After working since 1994 as chief ranger, business manager and assistant park manager at Twin Lakes State Park in Green Bay, James P. “Phil” Morgan has assumed the top spot at the park.

Morgan was recently named park manager at Twin Lakes — a position that he takes very seriously.

The 46-year-old began his career in Virginia’s state park system when he was hired in 1992 as a park interpreter in Virginia Beach at the then-Seashore State Park, what is now First Landing State Park.

When Morgan visited Twin Lakes for a conference while working at Seashore, that’s when he fell in love with the park. Morgan said when he drove across the dam along the park’s main entrance, “it looked like a little resort, you know. I didn’t

even know we had parks like this out in the central part of the state … It just looked perfect when I came across the dam the first time.”

Morgan would apply for a job at Twin Lakes in 1994.

“When I got here, the chief ranger job was highly maintenance focused, so I learned a lot about the backbone, the skeleton, the nuts and bolts of the park and being the business manager and the assistant manger, I got heavily into the administrative functions of revenue side and personnel management. …,” he said.

Morgan was hired by Herbert Doswell, who worked at the park for over 40 years. “He had worked here during the days of segregation,” Morgan said.

One aspect of the park that Morgan finds appealing is its history. For years, the park was two separate ones: Goodwin Lake was for whites only and Prince Edward Lake was for African Americans.

“The story with Twin Lakes is something that sets it apart and makes it unique in the country,” Morgan said.

He said that in 1950 a black banker from South Boston, who wanted to visit the segregated park, who hired civil rights attorney Oliver Hill, who would sue the state and win under the separate but equal clause. Following the court decision to integrate the park, money was allocated to improve the Prince Edward Lake side, he said.

“It was the only state park … that African Americans could go to and it stayed busy. It was full,” Morgan said.

Families that grew up in the 1950s and 1960s recreating at the park still come back for reunions and other functions, he said.

“From what it looked like in 1992 from what it looks like now, it’s night and day,” Morgan said of the improvements to the park since he’s been working there. “ …The campground was just a washed out [area].”

Many upgrades and renovations have taken place since the early 1990s, he said.

The park is currently in the process of building three new cabins — two three-bedrooms cabins and one six-bedroom cabin. The housing is expected to be completed by Nov. 2016.

“We’re constantly looking to upgrade what we offer to our guests,” Morgan said of the park’s programming. The park does outreach in local schools and nursing homes, taking skins of animals to the facilities, making crafts and showing visual tours of the park.

“Wayland [Nursing and Rehabilitation] has actually come out for a field trip,” he said. “That was a highlight.”

The park — which currently is home to seven cabins and a four-bedroom bunkhouse — sees about 101,000 visit each year, 14,000 of whom spent the night. He said that for 2015, the park’s visitorship is ahead of projections.

“The whole thing is just really special to me … I’ve raised my family here,” he said when asked his favorite thing about the park.

The favorite part about his job is making families stays enjoyable. “I still have that feeling that it’s a small resort,” he said.

Five full-time staff members work at the park, and about 40 seasonal staff work throughout the warmer months.

Morgan said that about 90 percent of the people who spend the night there also visit the High Bridge Trail State Park, which is in close proximity to Twin Lakes.

Twin Lakes is a 495-acre, historic park offers cultural, environmental and recreational activities. “Overnight accommodations include a campground and climate-controlled cabins. Visitors enjoy swimming, fishing, hiking, boating and lakeside picnicking,” the park’s website states.

The popular Cedar Crest Conference Center on Prince Edward Lake is available for weddings, family gatherings, retreats and business meetings.