Caddo Mounds Suffers Major Storm Damage

ALTO – The tornado that hit Alto Saturday caused major damage to the Caddo Mounds State Historical Site. Mark Wolfe, executive director of the Texas Historical Commission was among those who toured the site to assess the damage. Roughly 50% of the visitors’ center building was demolished by the storm. They are working to obtain a structural assessment of what remains. The estimate to rebuild the visitors’ center, to replace vehicles and equipment, and to make other necessary repairs, is $2.5 million.

Fortunately, the exhibit items in the visitors’ center were replicas, since they do not display actual tribal artifacts out of respect for the Caddo people and their beliefs. The Grass House is gone. Some interpretive signage on the site grounds is intact, but some was lost. The site’s guest house suffered minor damage. Conditions of the utility buildings across the road range from demolished to mostly intact. The demolished structures were primarily garage space for tractors. Wolfe said those vehicles appeared to be okay, just inaccessible. The site managers’ house was slightly damaged.

BancorpSouth has set up a fund for disaster recovery. You can call 936-858-4416 to donate, or send donations to: BancorpSouth, Alto Relief Fund, P.O. Box 430, Alto, TX 75925.