An undated photo of the “old swimming hole,” Williamstown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. The story of how a Borough swimming hole came to be was told this way in 1976:
One hot summer day after a group of young boys were finished playing games, they needed a place to cool off. They decided to build a small pool to be able to take a dip and swim. They gathered up some picks and shovels and headed for the present site of our town pool. What greeted them then was only a piece of land with stream thru it, which had been part of the George Davis Golf Course.
They started digging and ended up with a “small” hole about 10 feet long, 8 feet wide, and from 2 to 3 feet deep (just to play around and cool off in).
To the delight of others and permission from Mr. Davis, some of the town people started to take an interest in the swimming hole and decided to do something about it. At this point, Mr. Davis donated the land to the borough and with the cooperation of the Williamstown Colliery, who supplied the mules, dump wagons, and scoops to dig and haul the dirt away, the first swimming pool was built.
The group of boys who were responsible for the old hole were: Nestor Polm, Albert Polm, Charles C. Bowerman, Ray Adams, and Albert Adams.
When they started digging to enlarge the first pool, Nestor Polm drove one of the teams of mules and Charles Bowerman worked the dump ratchet, Ralph Jones drove the other team of mules. There were quite a few citizens who became interested and helped build it.
This then led to the enlarging and the second pool came into existence, which was condemned. It was decided then to decrease the size the size of the pool and build shower rooms at one end. A fence was placed all around the pool. The diving board was removed and two large sliding boards added. It is no longer the old (free) swimming hole for boys to romp in, but now a community paid admission pool.
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From: A Sesquicentennial History of Williamstown and Williams Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, 1826-1926. For availability of this book and other materials on Williamstown history, contact the Williamstown Historical Society.
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