Three ponds at Sheldon State Park. All photographs by Theresa Keefe and Keith Koski.
OffCite presents the fourth submission to the Unexpected City challenge, made by Theresa Keefe. Click here to learn about making your own submission.
Sheldon State Park is a wonderfully unexpected place in Houston. It is located in east Houston, wedged in the corner where 90 comes off the Beltway. I would say no more than an hour's drive from anywhere in Houston.
My partner and I have driven past the treeless pipe yards along 90 numerous times but never noticed the signs for the State Park. We went to the part that was once an old fishery.
The fishery was opened in the 1950s, then closed in the '70s and allowed to revert back to nature. There are 28 overgrown, one-acre ponds. One has reverted to a pine forest. One seemed to be filled only with spooky, dead tree trunks. Two Ibises and a Great Blue Heron palled round in another one. At Pond 12a, we saw a six-foot alligator. Click here for a map of the fishery.
The LEED certified Education Center and restrooms are made of reclaimed material including lots of rusty pipes. The structures are all very finely put together. I could go on and on. I would say visit before spring overgrowth makes the ponds difficult to see and returning mosquitos take over.
