Was fictional swimming hole in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' based on real-life ‘Parker’s Eddy’?

While reading (and re-reading) Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Go Set a Watchman,” it’s fun to spot references to places that actually exist in Monroe County. It’s generally accepted that Maycomb County is loosely based on Monroe County, and a close reading of both novels reveals references to real-life places that still exist today. One example of this is “Barker’s Eddy.”

By definition, an eddy is a small pool that forms downstream from an obstacle in a river, creek or stream. These obstacles often include rocks, logs or anything else that sticks out of the water and causes the waterflow to be disrupted. Sources say that eddies form on the downstream side of the obstacle and that they are typically circular in shape.

In “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Barker’s Eddy is mentioned at least twice. According the book, this fictional swimming hole was located at the end of a dirt road off the Meridian highway, about a mile from Maycomb.

In Chapter 3, Calpurnia gets on to Scout Finch for embarrassing their guest, Walter Cunningham, at the dinner table. An angry Scout tells Calpurnia “to just wait… one of these days when she wasn’t looking, I’d go off and drown myself in Barker’s Eddy and then she’d be sorry.”

Later, in Chapter 24, we read about Dill’s last days in Maycomb for the summer. Scout’s older brother Jem decides to teach Dill how to swim before he heads back home to Meridian. We’re told that these swimming lessons take place at Barker’s Eddy.

In Chapter 5 of “Go Set a Watchman,” a much older Scout is riding to the Alabama River with another childhood friend, Henry Clinton. At they travel along, they humorously recall an incident in which Jem fell out of Atticus’ car during a trip to swim at Barker’s Eddy.

As many readers will already know, there is no “Barker’s Eddy” in Monroe County, but there is a “Parker’s Eddy.” According to the 1999 book, “Monroeville: The Search for Harper Lee’s Maycomb,” Parker’s Eddy was located on Limestone Creek, about two miles outside of Monroeville, past the old city dump. According to friend of The Journal, Lloyd Mitchell, the old city dump was located on Autrey Drive, a portion of which is now called Whiting Drive, in Clausell.

I later learned that this is consistent with what others had to say about the location of Parker’s Eddy. This old swimming hole, which is now on gated private property, was easily reached off the dirt portion of Clausell Road. Others said that Parker’s Eddy was just upstream from where Limestone Creek converges with Double Branch, not far from where the railroad passes over Limestone Creek.

Journal columnist George Thomas Jones, who just turned 101 years old, said that Parker’s Eddy was in a bend of Limestone Creek that was deep enough for swimming. It was located at the far north end of what is now the Clausell community, Jones said. Parker’s Eddy was a popular place for swimmers and a favorite camp ground for Monroeville’s Boy Scout troop, he said.

In the end, if anyone in the reading audience has more to share about the history of Parker’s Eddy, please let me know. It would be interesting to know how this swimming hole got its name, especially the Parker that gave the pool its namesake. The answers to these questions may be lost to history, but someone out there may surprise us with more information.