state.parks
Jones Lake State Park, circa 1963
A family looks on from their prime picnic spot in the shade at Jones Lake State Park.
In the late 1960s, the North Carolina state parks system was integrated, ending the nearly 30 years of Jones Lake operating as the first state-owned outdoor recreational facility open to Black people. But Jones Lake was never limited to Black visitors only, with many white visitors coming soon after it opened. That was the myth of "separate but equal" – the goal of segregation was to limit the access of Black people to places that were often substandard to the ones for their white counterparts. With the mandated integration of public spaces, the only change for Jones Lake was that Black visitors had many more options for outdoor recreation elsewhere in the state.
Photo from the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation archives
Jones Lake State Park, circa 1963
A family looks on from their prime picnic spot in the shade at Jones Lake State Park.
In the late 1960s, the North Carolina state parks system was integrated, ending the nearly 30 years of Jones Lake operating as the first state-owned outdoor recreational facility open to Black people. But Jones Lake was never limited to Black visitors only, with many white visitors coming soon after it opened. That was the myth of "separate but equal" – the goal of segregation was to limit the access of Black people to places that were often substandard to the ones for their white counterparts. With the mandated integration of public spaces, the only change for Jones Lake was that Black visitors had many more options for outdoor recreation elsewhere in the state.
Photo from the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation archives