The Whitmore family photograph from the 1950s. You may recall that the Dispatch Record recently ran a photograph of an area swimming hole whose location was unknown to the person corresponding with our newspaper: a Lee Whitmore of Kennett Square, Pa.

It seems Whitmore’s father was stationed at Fort Hood in 1957-58, and the family discovered “a great swimming hole in a small canyon nearby.” The family quit frequenting the swimming hole after being informed the location was a rattlesnake den.

Recently, Whitmore found a photo of the family at the swimming hole in the family archives and requested help in identifying the location of the recreational area.

We asked our readers for help on this, and they responded.

Our first caller after the item appeared in the newspaper said he believed the photo might have been taken on Fall Creek near Rumley. Apparently the site is on private property, and there is no public access to the creek now, however. The caller, who said the area on Fall Creek is a “stunningly beautiful place,” spent considerable time as a youngster at the swimming hole. He said it has been a swimming hole for 100 years.

Jim Lowe is editor and publisher of the Lampasas Dispatch Record. The only other place he thought the Whitmore photograph could have been taken was along Rocky Creek south of Lampasas, 15 miles or so. But he did not recall having seen any bluffs on Rocky Creek like the one in the photograph referenced by the Pennsylvania man.

Several other locals said they are confident the photo was taken on Rocky Creek. They mentioned the likely spot was “the forks of the Rocky” -- where North Rocky Creek and South Rocky Creek meet.

It was explained to us that from the intersection of U.S. Highway 183 and FM 963 at Watson, the location is several miles east. You will cross a small bridge, we were told, and “the forks” will be a short distance east of this bridge -- but, again, on private property.

We also were told that there’s a small problem, as the swimming hole site does not look like it did even 20 years ago -- not to mention in the 1950s -- because of vegetative growth over the years and gravel that has washed into the creek.

But, hey, it’s an interesting search all the same.

Another longtime resident told us she believes the Whitmore photograph was taken on Rocky Creek, close to the Smith Ranch near Oakalla, which is in the far northeastern portion of Burnet County.

An earlier caller to our office opined that the swimming hole mentioned by Whitmore is off FM 1478, southwest of Lampasas, at the person’s ranch toward Naruna. The local woman said she was pretty certain, as her family recently had photographs made at the site she mentioned -- and the surroundings strongly resembled those in the photo we had run.

A gentleman from Lampasas telephoned to say he believes the Whitmore photograph was taken on Mesquite Creek, on old Burnet Road. We believe he actually was referring to Burnet County Road 207, sometimes known as Sunny Lane -- or the Old Austin Highway.

Still another caller referred us to a friend with possibly helpful information. We called that party, who suggested we call yet another person, who might have information that the photo was of a site at Colorado Bend State Park.

As I write this, I have a large Lampasas County map and an equally large north Burnet County map opened and spread across my desk. Anyone who knows me very well knows this could be dangerous (I am not a navigator.)

But for what it is worth, I pass along to you the aforementioned suggestions about the mysterious swimming hole and its whereabouts.

What the various calls say to me -- and thank you, readers, for responding so quickly to the appeal -- is that there are several large rock bluffs in our area that could be where the swimming hole was located.

The people’s choice, though, I would have to say, is Rocky Creek in Burnet County.

In the meantime, we hope this helps our friends in Pennsylvania, as they try to put a correct address label on a very interesting photograph.