On May 6, 1901, 21 men from Wills Point met in the law office of W.B. Wynne to organize the Fin & Feather Hunting and Fishing Club at Thorn Lake. The Texas & Pacific Railroad Company had built Thorn Lake to supply water for steam engines. In June, Mr. and Mrs. H.F. Goodnight deeded six acres around the lake, and the new park was named for them. Charter members considered the site an ideal meeting place and planned to improve the lake, stock it with fish, and provide boats for members and other visitors. In August 1901, a reunion of old settlers and Confederate veterans was held there, and in later years the annual gathering expanded to include the Woodmen of the World, Knights of Pythias, Women’s Temperance Union, Farmers Union, and other organizations, with speeches, music, dancing, and baseball games. Church groups and other organizations also used the facility, and visitors included noted area citizens and people who chose the setting for marriage proposals. The club bought additional property in 1914 and 1920, reorganized in 1934, and in 1994 purchased the lake from the Union Pacific Railroad Company for $30,000. For more than 100 years, the club has continued to care for the lake and maintain it as a place of history, festivity, and community.