The Old Swimmin' Hole
By Galen Lawrence
Doon never really had the financial means or population to justify building a municipal swimming pool. The two Rock Rivers and Mud Creek didn't help the problem much as they were too muddy or uninviting most of the time.
In the thirties and forties, though, Doon's young and old had a special place called the swimmin' pit. It was located south of Doon just inside the Sioux County line. It was probably dredged in the days when Doon supplied sand and gravel to a large area.
Day or night you would find someone enjoying its cool waters. Maybe a skinny dipper or two or some tired farm hands cooling off after a hot day in the harvest sun.
But mostly it was the kids transported by their faithful and watchful mothers who enjoyed nature's gift to the water lovers. I remember my mother-in-law Alice Ray taking their Buick with kids inside and out and in the rumble seat, heading for the pit on a hot summer's day.
There were several near drownings as the pit was quite deep and very cold just below the surface, but the good times far outweighed any scary moments.
Its usefulness as a swimming pool diminished in later years and it now a source of irrigation water for a nearby farm.