 The Division of Conservation first acquired the land in
1938.
In 1939 the Civilian Conservation Corps built an earthen
dam and spillway to create the Van Buren Lake. It was
under the control of the Division of Wildlife until 1950
when it was turned over to the Division of Parks and
Recreation of the State of Ohio. Additional land was
purchased in 1970 and 1975.
Van Buren was the first state park in Ohio to have a
woman as park manager. Nadra Masten was appointed park
manager Sept. 26th 1976.
In the late 1960’s and 1970’s people in the area thought
the state had abandoned the park. There was an attempt
to have the park taken over by the Hancock Park
District, but the transfer of ownership was never made.
In 2001 once again the state was considering a proposal
to transfer ownership to the Hancock Park District.
There was a huge public outcry against the transfer and
a petition drive was taken up, led by the
Wood County Ohio Horseman's Council (WCOHC). The
transfer was stopped and one of the oldest state parks
was saved.
 The
equestrians of the NW Ohio region have a keen interest
in the park because Van Buren State Park is the only
state park in the NW region of the state that offers
bridle trails and camping for people with horses. In
2001 the horsemen’s campground was built. Volunteers
from the WCOHC cut weeds, trimmed brush, put up picket
lines and tie rails and helped park maintenance plant
grass and put in water hydrants at the horsemen’s
campground. They built a sixty-foot bridge over the
Rocky Ford Creek and two small bridges on trail. They
maintain and mark the trails.
In 2004 the WCOHC partnered up with the FVBSP. Together
they have constructed bridges over ravines and put geo-tex
and stone on muddy areas of the trails. They gave
material and labor support to Boy Scouts of Troop 313
for Eagle Scout projects to construct one bridge over a
ravine and manure pits in the horsemen’s campground.
In 2006 the ODNR closed the family campground by the lake and
built a new family campground at the East end of the park near
the horsemen’s campground. A new water well was drilled
and potable water is now available to campers. The
horsemen’s day use area was moved to the east end of the
park to make room for the new amphitheater between the
two campgrounds. |
