Cabin Lore: The Hawksbill Pool

Fairly soon after we closed on Hawksbill Cabin, we stopped for dinner at the Hawksbill Diner in Stanley - for those who have visited us, you'll remember that the diner is one of the landmarks I use to guide your drive in to our place.  Mary and I had a steak dinner - the quality, size of portions, and especially the price offered nothing to complain about - but the thing we noticed and remembered that day was an old advertising poster they had on one of the walls.

It mentioned the Hawksbill development going up on the outskirts of Stanley, VA, and included five or six black and white photographs of a swimming pool and complementary recreational facilities. Eventually, we found a copy of the poster at an auction, acquired it, and have it hanging in the entry hall of the Cabin.  (Here's a link to the post about the auction:  http://hawksbillcabin.blogspot.com/2008/03/auction-action-part-2.html )

One of the cool things about the poster is the notation about 1/2 acre cottage lots for sale.  Hawksbill Cabin is actually built so that it spans two lots, and the parcel we bought had another lot with it, for a total of an acre and a half - we also bought three adjoining lots behind us, which I often refer to as the wood lot.

The largest photo on the poster is of the pool and recreation building near it.  On Sunday, when Tessie and I went for a walk over at the Hawksbill Park, we walked along the stream beside of the pool, and I snapped a photo after noticing that they are working on opening it for the season.

The story goes that they used to use water from Little Hawksbill Creek to fill the pool.  They had a filtration system, but that water must have been very cold - the largest photo on the poster features it.  Now they have a modern system and the pool is very popular, with grounds that are crowded with families on the weekend enjoying the recreation and having picnics on the grounds.

I particularly like the building near the pool.  I've never gotten to the bottom of the rumor behind this, but I have heard that it is an old ice factory that was relocated here from the DC area, as part of the original development.  It definitely looks like it could be a repurposed ice factory, with the large widows on both floors of the buildings.  The downstairs has all the pool admin functions, while the upstairs is a great party room - maybe Mary and I will book it sometime for a shindig.

There is more to the story about the Hawksbill development - but I'll have to save that info for future posts.  For now, let's all look forward to the pool's opening in a few weeks, a sure sign that spring has arrived after a brutal winter!