City of Big Spring history

Secession and the politics of the Civil War, 1860–65The coming of the warThe political course of the warMoves toward emancipationSectional dissatisfaction

Because of the dependable water source of the “big spring”, the rail line was built and became functional in 1873.

White settlement, based on cattle and homesteading, developed after the arrival of the Texas and Pacific Railway in May 1881, and Big Spring became a railroad divisional point.

Grover Cleveland’s first termThe surplus and the tariffThe public domainThe Interstate Commerce ActThe election of 1888

By the late 1890’s, the busy railway, along with the newly developing town of Big Spring, had caused the water table at the spring site to drop to a point where the spring became non-functioning.

The Benjamin Harrison administrationThe Sherman Antitrust ActThe silver issueThe McKinley tariffThe agrarian revoltThe PopulistsThe election of 1892

Its growth was accelerated after the discovery of oil in 1925.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933.

Shortly after the State of Texas acquired the park property in 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps arrived to build the park.

The park opened in 1936.

World War IIThe road to warThe United States at warWar productionFinancing the warSocial consequences of the warThe 1944 electionThe new United States role in world affairs

The peak Cold War years, 1945–60The Truman Doctrine and containmentPostwar domestic reorganizationThe Red ScareThe Korean WarPeace, growth, and prosperityEisenhower’s second termDomestic issuesWorld affairsAn assessment of the postwar era

The Iran nuclear deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, and the Ukraine crisis

The 2018 midterm elections