The Legend of Devil's Garden
The story of Devil's Garden, located in Hutch, Kentucky, is an interesting one. Growing up in this general area, I had always heard about Devils Garden and knew it was a swimming spot. As a teenager, I was told by my parent not to go there. That the area was a place were people came to party and drink. I have been by the location many times during my life.The somewhat popular swimming spot has a dark past, Here is the story.
In the small community of Hutch, in Bell county Kentucky, there is a legend that is both sad and frightful.
It seems that one summer night a group of teenagers were out having a good time at the local swimming hole. This was before the spot had earned the name Devils Garden. They were all drinking, swimming and enjoying quite a bit of playing around. One of the kids may have had too much to drink and slipped and hit his head on a rock in the shallow water. The teenagers were drinking in a dry county and they sure didn't wont their parents to know about it. So,they decided to cover up the accidental death of their friend.
They tied a rock to their friend’s body to keep it under the water and left. The next day, wondering if it was all a bad dream they went back to the swimming hole. The police had already arrived to the scene and found the body.
Come to find out, their friend had not died from hitting his head but had drowned. None of the then teenagers said a word about what really happened. Fifteen years later, the now adult teenagers, began to disappear one by one. It finally got down to where only two from the group were left. The two decided to confess about what really happened that night. They both were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Now, as the legend goes, if you go out to the swimming area during a full moon, you will sometimes see a reflection of a skull on the water.
After this event, the area became known as Devil's Garden.
Now, it is my understanding that people still go there and swim but as for me, I think I'll pass. I think a lot of people in our area probably don't know about this tale, they may know the name but not the story behind it.
Now, the only verification I can find on this story is from several other websites, so I can't say for sure it is 100 percent the real story, but then again that is why it is called a Legend.
Happy Reading.
FOLLOW UP - Devils Garden The Real Story
Thanks
~Tom~
This
post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the
cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto
Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of
unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild
land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet
facebook.com/TheCryptoCrew
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The story about the kid drowning in the Devils Garden swimming pool is totally untrue. So is the reason for the name. I know because my family owns and started the original pool. My grandfather, Oscar Jackson, started the original pool and ownership was passed on the my parents upon his and my grandmother's passing. Your "tale" is a good read but totally untrue...signed...Virgil Wade Barnett
ReplyDeleteWhile researching the story about how this area got its name, that is the only story I ran across that accounted for the naming of the area. Is it true? I don't know. I don't recall ever finding a date this event supposedly took place. Thanks for the comment.
DeleteWent swimming there many times in the late 60s. Just outside of Pineville where I grew up.
ReplyDeleteVirgil Barnett, did your grandfather Jackson happen to own the mall in Williamsburg at one time ?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Debra, I still got your message in an email. There is a good chance you may know me. My wife works in Middlesboro so I do get over that way from time to time. When I was young I almost stayed over there...loafing around the mall. Thanks for responding to the post even thought you deleted it later.
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