# The Swimming Hole.



## BriarPatch99

I know this is the wrong time of the year to be talking about swimming... but the "putin in tobacco" thread got me thinking about "the swimming hole".  As a treat ... if we got all the tobacco cropped ... and finished early ... Dad would take all us kids(and grownups too) to one of the several local swimming holes ... Chatterton Beach was the one most visited... it was also know as the "gator hole" ... it was where the train trussle crossed Seventeen Mile Creek(now River)... one side of the creek had a pretty white sand beach area that was a favorite spot of local folks... it had several springs that came down through the sandridge that bordered the area ... there lived a fair sized gator back in the very back end of the hole ... we always kept and eye out for the gator...

One of the other places was Hagen Beach ... a hole dug by the county for dirt to build a highway ... it was clear blue/green water ....

Another was the Satilla River at highway 158 ... this one was kind of rare to get to go to and served as the end of tobacco season treat right before school started...

What are the names of your favorite swimming holes??


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## Artfuldodger

Us Sandridge boys mostly swam at Meek's Beach close to Tim Meek's house on the New Forest Hwy, Chatterton Beach, and Cat Creek in Wilsonville of all places.
We also swam at the old Archery Range on the ridge.


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## BriarPatch99

I forgot about that hole at Meek's ... has a bad case of gator fleas! I remember the tall pine with a rope tied in the top ... .


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## JustUs4All

Folks in my area used Shield's Pond at least from the 20s through the 60s.  It used to be the first pond on Kiokee Creek, and close enough to the Methodist campground at White Oak that lots of the Columbia County and Augusta folks used it some too in days gone by.


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## drtyTshrt

Briar Creek Hwy 56 Waynesboro
Ogeechee river Morgans Bridge.


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## SGADawg

Mostly we swam in the Alapaha River; Lakeland bridge, Berrien Beach and points between. Lots of borrow pits along the highways and irrigation pits on the farms.


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## dotties cutter

After putting in a barn if we had time in the evening we would go to the mill pond across the street from the church. Back then the turpentine still was still operating next door to the church and the old mill house was still standing and the millstone was still there in the mill house. Us boys would wear our dirty britches and the ladies and girls would swim in old dresses. back then a bikini would have been considered "NEKKED". The Dentons barn was on one side of the pond and the Vinings home was on the other.


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## dotties cutter

I forgot to include that this was in Bickly Georgia.


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## jbogg

Our favorite was about 1/2 mile south of the HW 53 Bridge where it crosses the Amicalola river in Dawson County.  The state came in a few years ago and built a boardwalk from the highway all the way to the shoals, so it stays fairly crowded on the weekends.  It's now known as "Edge of the World".


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## Nicodemus

I learned to swim in the swimmin` hole in Lotts Creek where it runs through our place. We also swam a lot at Clark`s Bluff on the Oconee. Once in a while we would swim at the bridge over Gator Creek on the Scotland road.


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## BriarPatch99

Dotties ... I know that pond ... probably one of the most beautiful ponds in that area ... two brothers built that... Tom and Jack Hargraves way back long ago ... then the Denton family got it .... there are some fine "green trout" in there and some wasp nest hanging on those cypress tree limbs as big as wash tubs ... I found one of the many ...not fun at all!


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## dotties cutter

The millpond at Bickly was always a piece of heaven for our whole family. I would follow my Grandfather Willie Courson to the upper pond on the right nights that he always knew about by holding onto his overall pocket to the upper pond to set a trot line and bring home a big string of mudcats. We lived a little less than a mile from the upper pond but all them woods are about gone now. now I visit all that in Memories. The younger Denton boys were our playmates back then and we spent many an hour in the Denton barn.


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## Jim Thompson

no idea of the name, but I was born in griffin ga and we lived down around dundee lake.

we had a swimming hole that was also full of fish...and tinted red most of the time.  when my brother and I would run down and swim it we would come back covered red.

everyone said it was run off from dundee mills


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## Cabin creek man

Dang yall fellers in south georgia had warm water holes to swim in up here in the mountains we swam in the river or sometimes in a pond or even  in a damed up little rocky creek hole just long enough to get wet in. Here in helen our best hole was in the chattahoochee on the north side of town called the big rock. It was about 7 or 8 feet deep in places and had a freestone and sand bottom and current. Later on after the river had all the steel and cables from the byrd stephens sawmill operation  cleaned out of it. Most people started swimming at the hole behind the present day pavillion and moved the name with it. This hole is known by many as the big rock now. One thing about swimming in the mountains is the water is like ice even in midsummer with tempatures in the rivers hardly ever making it to 70 and some creeks dukes comes to mind bearly hitting the 60 degree mark. Also the currents were very fast in some places and care had to be taken not to be pushed into a rock or log where you couldnt get loose. Although this might sound dangerous i will still take it over ya'lls snakes and gators.


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## Oldstick

Some area residents may remember the Echeconnee Creek at the Crawford Co./Bibb Co. line on Knoxville Road.  The property was a motocross track at the time but on the creek was a huge 40 foot overhanging tree with rope swing.

1970's, so I also seem to remember many girl swim outfits of cutoff jean shorts with wet t-shirts and/or halter tops.


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## rhbama3

For me it was Willow Springs swimming pool just north of Montgomery and right before you get to Wetumpka. It was a spring fed swimming pool and on a hot summer day that was the best $1 you could ever spend. That water was icy cold and jumping off the high dive was the subject of many a dare. Its been closed for years and that's a shame.


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## Gary Mercer

We had two public pools out in the country.  One was the Water Wheel just outside Jedburg, SC.  It was fed by and arteisan (sp?) well.  The owner said it flushed itself every 12 hours, so he didn't need chemicals. COLD
The other was just outside Summerville, SC and it was the Curve Inn.  That was where the "City Kids" went.
We also swam at the swamp on the back of the farm.  That was part of Four Holes Swamp, which emptied into Heck Hole Swamp and then into the Santee river.  (Had to clean up the name of the Swamp, so I wouldn't get chastised.)  Swimming in the swamp meant you had to keep an eye out for snakes and some gators.  This swamp in SC, was one of the few that had gators back in the fifties.  They were about as scarce as wild turkeys, but we had a few of those too.


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## Artfuldodger

Gary Mercer said:


> We had two public pools out in the country.  One was the Water Wheel just outside Jedburg, SC.  It was fed by and arteisan (sp?) well.  The owner said it flushed itself every 12 hours, so he didn't need chemicals. COLD
> The other was just outside Summerville, SC and it was the Curve Inn.  That was where the "City Kids" went.
> We also swam at the swamp on the back of the farm.  That was part of Four Holes Swamp, which emptied into Heck Hole Swamp and then into the Santee river.  (Had to clean up the name of the Swamp, so I wouldn't get chastised.)  Swimming in the swamp meant you had to keep an eye out for snakes and some gators.  This swamp in SC, was one of the few that had gators back in the fifties.  They were about as scarce as wild turkeys, but we had a few of those too.



I've been through Jedburg on the way from Augusta to Charleston. Now I get on I-26 before reaching Jedburg. I've always wanted to canoe the two swamps you mentioned. I probably won't swim in them. I've canoed the Edisto at Givhans Ferry.
While stationed in Charleston we would swim in the Ashley river near Summerville.


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## dotties cutter

my grandparents and father were from bickly Georgia but I mostly grew up in Jacksonville Florida. In Dinsmore and Picketville which was a good 25 miles from the ocean we had a swimming hole back in the woods in a creek that was about 12 feet deep and we would dive and bring up stones from the bottom and this swimming hole and it had an abundance of sharks teeth in it . Every summer we would wind up with a cigar box full of these prehistoric teeth. We didn't dare tell our parents where we actually got the teeth from cause we were not supposed to be swimming in the woods but kids will be kids.


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## Fuzzy D Fellers

Anderson's Pool and Misti Waters Pool


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## 660griz

Long time ago but, I think it was Blue Springs outside of Dublin. Back in the woods and you could spit across it but, it was clear, cold and deep. Had a platform up a tree you could climb up and jump into the spring. Looked like you were jumping into a coffee cup.


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## Milkman

I learned to swim at a place in northern Jackson county called Hurricane shoals on the north Oconee river.  We played on the shoals and swam in the holes and swirls below them. There was an old mill pond above the dam which we swam in too.

The county bought all the area several years ago and made a really nice multi-use park out of it. They have even fixed up the water sluice and have an old time water driven corn mill running there during the summer. You can watch it run and buy corn meal ground by it.


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## fish hawk

As a young fella growing up in Coffee Co.any old pond would do ,but when we really stepped out we would go to Holiday Beach or Crystal Lake.After we moved to Thomasville and I started driving we would hit the sinks south of Tallahassee just about every weekend and swing off that awesome tree swing that was there.


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## JustUs4All

Migmack said:


> Anderson's Pool and Misti Waters Pool



I have ridden by Misti Waters hundreds of times, but never stopped.


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## Gary Mercer

Dodger:
My oldest son and I made two trips thru the area.
First we did the Pee Dee river all the way to the coast.
Then, in 74/75 we took the old Grumman down the Edisto from Aiken, SC to Beaufort, Sc.
That trip was one of our best and longest.  Took us about 5 days, but we had a blast.
Talk about eating fish for every meal.  Fried fish in the evening on the little Coleman, then cold fried fish for breakfast and lunch.
We took a lot of shorter trips in the old Grumman.  Augusta to Savannah,  The old Santee from the Gator Hole below the dam at Lake Marion to the Coast.  Black Creek in Darlington was a favorite when the Red Breasts were bedding.  I left her wrapped around a huge rock in the Savannah River, under what is now a lake.  (Used to trout fish in the Savannah between Hartwell, and Bobby Brown State Park on Clarks Hill with my old buddy Al Stocks the eye doctor in Augusta.)


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## Fuller

Best swimming hole I ever saw was a place they called pappyjack near Hawkinsville. I went with some buddies several years ago. I have never seen a spring this size. It is a 15 foot wide stream running right out of the ground. Most springs I have ever seen are much much smaller. Anybody ever been to this spot?


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## Timberchicken

The 'Gas Hole' on the Little  Ocmulgee River in Scotland Ga. Had a long rope tied to top of Cypress limb. We had the best times out there.


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## Milkman

Anybody ever do any skinny dipping ??  We used to at a creek near home.  Had to hide under the bridge a time or two when folks showed up.


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## Designasaurus

I grew up in Missouri - we would swim in the Moreau River next to the Highway 50 bridge East of Jefferson City.  We had a rope swing and it seemed like you could swing halfway across the river on it. 

I was briefly "famous" one summer for doing a 2 1/2 back flip off the upper framework of the bridge - you would climb up the trusses to the top & then jump - making sure you jumped out far enough to clear the metalwork along the roadway.  It had to be 50 feet or more.  (Of course our parents didn't know what we were doing).  One time we jumped off the bridge when the river was flooded.  We had to time our jumps to avoid floating trees & other stuff.  We grabbed onto a floating tree & were swept downstream a couple of miles (almost to the Missouri River) before we could get out & had to hike barefoot all the way back to to the bridge area.

Wish I could do all this again...


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## joedublin

When I was a kid I had my fill of swimmin' in black water swamp streams,  muddy rivers, clear water rivers and people's fish ponds. In SC we always had to keep an eye out for those danged water moccasins .


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## mbjr

Me and my cousins swimming hole was located inside stone mountain park, just up stream from the mill thingy, its still there but they got signs forbidding swimming. just brought back some good memories!


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## hitchin

If at home we either swam in the fish pond or went to Odums washlake on big Satilla creek about 3 miles below where us 1 crosses it We also swam in the hammock or the branch lakes just below us1.After we got old enough to drive we would go to the Harry hole on Bennett still road in bacon county.If at Granddaddy Davis we would swim in the blue hole,On roaring creek about the edge of the flood plain of the Altamaha river.This is spring fed and very cold.Last time I swam in it myself and my cousin were about 40,and scouting deer in September and took a wild hair to cool off so skinny dipping we went;Took me two hours to quit shaking!!


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## godogs57

Black River, low country South Carolina, Little River in Upstate SC (now about 75' "under water", as they built a lake over our farm). Wonderful memories.


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## holton27596

Correct name of the swim hole in Scotland was the whirlhole. Grew up there. Thats my grandaddys old store up on 341 where you trun at. Had some good times there an the water coming out of that artesian well was some of the best Iver ever tasted.


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## Timberchicken

That's right. If I remember the gas hole was further down the river from the whirl hole. I went by there last Friday. Looks like it's gated off the highway and a lot of the timber has been cut back in there. 



holton27596 said:


> Correct name of the swim hole in Scotland was the whirlhole. Grew up there. Thats my grandaddys old store up on 341 where you trun at. Had some good times there an the water coming out of that artesian well was some of the best Iver ever tasted.


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## The mtn man

Some of my favorite childhood swimmin holes up here in the mtns. was Fires creek had the crater hole, the honey hole, tusquittee creek had the babtizing hole, shooting creek had the big daddy hole and the big mamma hole.


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## Artfuldodger

Fuller said:


> Best swimming hole I ever saw was a place they called pappyjack near Hawkinsville. I went with some buddies several years ago. I have never seen a spring this size. It is a 15 foot wide stream running right out of the ground. Most springs I have ever seen are much much smaller. Anybody ever been to this spot?



There appear to be a lot of springs on either side of the Ocmulgee in this area of Georgia on both sides of the river. Jay Bird Springs near Chauncey and others mentioned on the north or east side such as near Scotland. I remember a couple between Jacksonville and Rhine. Some are on creeks a little farther away from the river. A little farther south of Pappy Jack Spring there are a couple in Wilcox County, Poor Robin and Oscewitchee Springs. I have never heard of Pappy Jack Spring. There must be some porous rocks in that area.


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## fireman401

Never heard of Pappy Jacks.  Went to Mock Springs between Pinehurst and Hawkinsville a lot back in the early 80's.  It always had very cold water.  I think they have re-opened it not too long ago.  It had about dried up due to irrigation pumping, but last I hears it was back.



Artfuldodger said:


> There appear to be a lot of springs on either side of the Ocmulgee in this area of Georgia on both sides of the river. Jay Bird Springs near Chauncey and others mentioned on the north or east side such as near Scotland. I remember a couple between Jacksonville and Rhine. Some are on creeks a little farther away from the river. A little farther south of Pappy Jack Spring there are a couple in Wilcox County, Poor Robin and Oscewitchee Springs. I have never heard of Pappy Jack Spring. There must be some porous rocks in that area.


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## Artfuldodger

fireman401 said:


> Never heard of Pappy Jacks.  Went to Mock Springs between Pinehurst and Hawkinsville a lot back in the early 80's.  It always had very cold water.  I think they have re-opened it not too long ago.  It had about dried up due to irrigation pumping, but last I hears it was back.



It looks like a nice laid back fun place to swim!


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## Artfuldodger

Anyone around befor 1949 to remember Bowen's Mill:

Bowen’s Mill was a well-known recreational area. It had its own train station along a line that ran parallel to Highway 129 (formerly Old Dixie Highway). There was a bowling alley, swimming pool, restaurant, motel and country store. Sometime prior to 1949, the wooden dam broke and the 100-acre lake vanished, carrying the gristmill away. A small portion of the mill’s steel gears and shaft are still visible to bridge pedestrians. - See more at: http://bowensmill.org/about-us/the-history-of-bowens-mill-christian-center#sthash.QUYMG6tu.dpuf


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## Artfuldodger

Before my time Crystal Lake had a bowling alley and dance pavillion. In my younger days we went there before the water slides were added. We took our kids to the water slides from Albany and Douglas. Lake B in Ocilla was in operation when my Mom was a child as was Jaybird Springs. Lake B was a popular destination for us teenagers to go roller skating as was Red Bluff.
We had a cabin at Red Bluff which got flooded by the Ocmulgee River and was moved off the river. Red Bluff near Jacksonville & Fitzgerald had a skating rink, swimming pool, restaurant, bait & tackle shop, gas pump for boats, boat ramp, & cabins. We spent many weekends at Red Bluff.
I would imagine many "improved" swimming hole with amenities have come and gone. Down the road from where I grew up in Douglas was a place called "Lakeside." My dad went there as a teenager and young adult. He said the pool had a sand bottom and wooden sides built in the middle of a creek. It had some sort of a juke joint restaurant overlooking the pond, I mean pool. We played there as kids and could see some remnants of the old place.
Before Holiday Beach was revamped it was called Hillard's Pond and had twin skiing lakes, various fishing ponds, store, skating rink, and bowling alley. It was really close to Douglas and was extremely popular years before Holiday Beach.
I would say that Crystal Lake was the most popular  improved and most visited swimmin' hole in South Georgia before it closed.


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## holton27596

one of the springs towards rhine is Spring lake, back in the 70s early 80s they used to have the springlake blue grass festival there.


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## Artfuldodger

holton27596 said:


> one of the springs towards rhine is Spring lake, back in the 70s early 80s they used to have the springlake blue grass festival there.



I went to one in 1981. We swam a lot in the daytime. The water was nice and cold.


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## dh88

There was an archery range on the ridge??


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## Big7

High Shoals.

Also the name of the town.

On the Apalachee River.

All the UGA hot-chicks used to come over and lay-out.
Don't know how most of them didn't get arrested.
They were sparsely dressed, if you know what I mean.

We had a flat rock slide about 100 feet to the "hole",
then, a little further down, some good fishing. 


Then, some drunken fool jumped off the bridge and
stuck strait up in the mud. DRT!

The guy that owned it at the time has passed away
and the family won't let anyone go there now.

AHHH.... THE GOOD OD DAYS!


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## Artfuldodger

dh88 said:


> There was an archery range on the ridge??



I skipped school and cut my foot open in the archery range pond. Had to go home and to the emergency room for stitches. Dad would take us to that pond after work before it was an archery range.
On the other side of the road & dam was where Lakeside swimming pool was when my Dad was in his twenties.


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## Hornet22

Big7 said:


> High Shoals.
> 
> Also the name of the town.
> 
> On the Apalachee River.
> 
> All the UGA hot-chicks used to come over and lay-out.
> Don't know how most of them didn't get arrested.
> They were sparsely dressed, if you know what I mean.
> 
> We had a flat rock slide about 100 feet to the "hole",
> then, a little further down, some good fishing.
> 
> 
> Then, some drunken fool jumped off the bridge and
> stuck strait up in the mud. DRT!
> 
> The guy that owned it at the time has passed away
> and the family won't let anyone go there now.
> 
> AHHH.... THE GOOD OD DAYS!



Got a scar on the chin from that rock slide. Stupid dude in front of me didn't get out the way in the hole and I hit him in da back of his head. Sliced my heel open on a broke beverage bottle coming back to the parkin lot from the "lay-out in the sun" rock where all the hawt girls were. Never did get caught skippin school to go over there.


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## Artfuldodger

I have a co-worker who swam at the Ogeechee River Mill near Warrenton:

http://www.exploregeorgia.org/listing/3429-ogeechee-river-mill


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## Big7

Hornet22 said:


> Got a scar on the chin from that rock slide. Stupid dude in front of me didn't get out the way in the hole and I hit him in da back of his head. Sliced my heel open on a broke beverage bottle coming back to the parkin lot from the "lay-out in the sun" rock where all the hawt girls were. Never did get caught skippin school to go over there.



Yeah.. I never got caught either.

EVERYONE knew where I was.. 

Guess I just got lucky. Never got any glass there,
but I did see some fools breaking bottles.

Just goes to show how one (or 10) bad apples can spoil the whole barrel.

There were so many hot-chicks there, glass 
just didn't matter.

Paradise by the dash board light.

Did get in a few fights though.

Don't know when you were talking about
but it's been about 30 years for me.


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## Hornet22

Big7 said:


> Yeah.. I never got caught either.
> 
> EVERYONE knew where I was..
> 
> Guess I just got lucky. Never got any glass there,
> but I did see some fools breaking bottles.
> 
> Just goes to show how one (or 10) bad apples can spoil the whole barrel.
> 
> There were so many hot-chicks there, glass
> just didn't matter.
> 
> Paradise by the dash board light.
> 
> Did get in a few fights though.
> 
> Don't know when you were talking about
> but it's been about 30 years for me.



Mid/late '70ies


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