Twin Lakes State Park
About this property
Twin Lakes State Park (formerly known as Goodwin Lake Park and Prince Edward State Park for Negroes), is a state park in Virginia, United States. It is located in Central Virginia in Prince Edward County. Twin Lakes State Park, centrally located in Virginia's Piedmont region, and has a variety of lakefront activities available, including swimming, camping, fishing, biking, canoeing and hiking. The park is home to Cedar Crest Conference Center, a facility for various indoor uses. The land for Twin Lakes State Park was initially bought from struggling farmers by the federal government during the Great Depression. Two parks, Goodwin Lake and Prince Edward Lake, were founded in 1939 and until the early 1960s were run as two racially segregated parks. In 1948, businessman Maceo Conrad Martin and his family embarked on a vacation to Staunton River State Park. As expected, Park authorities denied the Martins entry to the state park based on their race. The Martins consulted the Richmond, Virginia-based civil rights law firm of Hill, Tucker and Robinson, led by Oliver Hill. Hill's firm filed a civil suit against the Commonwealth of Virginia under the “separate but equal” doctrine. The suit alleged that Staunton River State Park's policy only allowed white citizens to use its facility, with no accommodations for African Americans. The Virginia Department of Conservation and Development first responded by converting a segregated African-American/"Colored Only" recreation area into a state park facility: the "Prince Edward State Park for Negroes" (now the Twin Lakes State Park). In 1949, Virginia Governor William Tuck allotted $195,000 to create 6 housekeeping cabins, an expanded swimming area, expanded parking, a bathhouse, and concession stand. Opened to the general "Colored Only/African-Americans Only" public in June 1950, Prince Edward State Park for Negroes became Virginia's eighth state park and the only pre-Civil Rights Era state park for African-Americans. African Americans from across the mid-Atlantic states visited the park for its swimming, recreation, camping and dancing. The parks merged in 1976 and became Twin Lakes State Park in 1986. Prince Edward State Park for Negroes was established in 1950 one mile west on the site of the former Prince Edward Lake Recreation Area for Negroes. Maceo C. Martin, an African American from Danville, sued the state when he was denied access to Staunton River State Park. Governor William M. Tuck funded the new park to provide "similar and equal" facilities in lieu of access. The park, with a black superintendent, was operated separately from neighboring Goodwin Lake Recreation Area until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The two parks merged in 1986 to form Twin Lakes State Park.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Twin Lakes State Park
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Questions about this property
When was Twin Lakes State Park listed on the National Register?
Twin Lakes State Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 31, 2012.
What type of historic resource is Twin Lakes State Park?
Twin Lakes State Park is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Twin Lakes State Park?
The period of significance for Twin Lakes State Park is recorded as the listed era.
Can I research the history near Twin Lakes State Park?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Twin Lakes State Park will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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