After 50 years, Fairfield Lake State Park in Freestone County is closed.
Located halfway between Dallas and Houston off Interstate 45, the 4,200-acre state park welcomed its last visitors on Monday after being forced to vacate the land.
The land the park sits on is being sold to a private developer, but state leaders and nearby residents remain hopeful it can be saved.
Inside the barbershop in downtown Fairfield, talk remains focused on preservation.
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“It’s sad to see it go – not only for me but for my children and my grandchildren,” said lifelong resident Connie Gallegos Whitaker. “That’s where they learn what nature is about.”
Her family has made countless memories while exploring the park's trials and hosting family cookouts on the grounds.
The park is also an economic engine for the community of 3,000. According to Texas Parks & Wildlife, more than 80,000 people visited the park last year.
“It’s tragic for the town,” said resident Patrick Williams. “I always thought the state would step in and save the day.”
Fairfield Lake State Park has been open for five decades, but the state did not own the property. Instead, Texas Parks & Wildlife leased the land at no cost from Vistra Energy.
When Vistra closed the Big Brown Power Plant on the north side of the lake in 2018, a company representative told NBC 5 they gave the parks department a two-year notice that they intended to terminate the lease and sell the land and surrounding acreage. The state, the company said, was encouraged to bid on the land but when they didn't the land went to a different buyer.
According to the Dallas Morning News, a Dallas developer ended up purchasing the land and plans to build a gated community of multi-million dollar homes with a private golf course.
For Fairfield, the economic benefit could still be years away.
Some in town have started petitions to save the park and local lawmakers have appealed to state leaders. State Rep. Angelia Orr filed a bill to use eminent domain to save the park.
“We’re doing our best, what we can do, but you know, our power is very, very, limited,” said Kenneth Hughes, Fairfield mayor and a lifelong resident. “It’s basically in the state’s hands.”
Hughes said he wants the park saved, but if that cannot happen the community needs to focus on what new development could do for the area.
“I’m going to approach the developers to see what we can do and what they can do for us,” Hughes said. “That’s the only logical thing we can do.”
Residents said they’re not opposed to the development, just wish their beloved park could stay.
“This is a piece of vanishing Texas. Once it’s gone it won’t come back,” Williams said.
