Marl Pits (swimming holes)

We have an entire section on the marl holes from the perspective of making cement.  In the eyes and minds of the many younger and some older folks in Chuckatuck these holes were made for swimming and nothing could stop us from enjoying such an unbelievable array of holes of varying depths and lots of tall banks to jump from.  One hole was said to be bottomless, but now we really doubt that.  The first and best hole was adjacent to the Glasscock farm and we even had the Lone Star heavies provide the wood for a float and ultimately a diving board.  One individual who will remain nameless, until later, learned to swim in this hole at a very early age from the float when his mother took his life jacket off and holding him under his arms looked him straight in the face and said, “Either sink or swim, Drexel”.  With that said she tossed him backwards about six feet from the raft and you bet your life Drexel did swim just like a puppy dog.  From that day forward in 1940 at the age of two Drexel never wore a lifejacket while swimming in the marl holes.  The area adjacent to this hole became the local garbage dump and eventually we left that swimming hole and moved to one behind where Marvin Winslow now lives. There was a diving board constructed by the older boys and because this hole was somewhat hidden by trees it was much easier to swim without the fear of getting caught which in later years was a problem because of a drowning that had taken  place earlier.  Even though Lone Star posted the property the swimming and hunting continued up until it closed its operation.  Ultimately the marl holes were sold to the city of Suffolk and are now known as Lone Star Lakes.