PostalPast
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Pocalla Springs picnic grounds and bathing lake, Sumter, SC, 1945

Subjects
Bathing & Beach ResortsCamping & HikingLakes & PondsPicnics & GatheringsSwimming & Bathing
Card type
Lithograph
Date
c. 1945 (Linen)
Front of Pocalla Springs picnic grounds and bathing lake, Sumter, SC, 1945, c. 1945 lithograph postcard
Front
Back of Pocalla Springs picnic grounds and bathing lake, Sumter, SC, 1945, c. 1945 lithograph postcard
Back

About this postcard

Bathers in period bathing suits wade and swim in a tree-ringed lake at Pocalla Springs, while a tall wooden swing frame carries riders out over the water. A wooden pavilion stands at the right, and other figures rest on the shore beneath the trees. The resort sat two miles from Sumter on the Lafayette Highway and advertised shady picnic grounds, tables, swings, and camping space. Its mineral spring was said to supply 29,000 gallons an hour. Guests could rent or buy bathing suits, dance in a pavilion equipped with an electric piano, and use a lake and dressing rooms lit by electricity, conveniences that helped roadside springs draw summer crowds in the 1940s.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in pencil

Dear Mary I am well and hope you the same. I will arrive in Florida tomorrow and when I get my suit I will write. How do miss you. Herman Schmidt

PublisherCommercialchrome
SHADY PICNIC GROUNDS WITH TABLES AND SWINGS FREE TO THE PUBLIC. Pocalla Springs supplies 29,000 gallons mineral water per hour. This beautiful resort is situated 2 miles from Sumter, S. C. on the La Fayette Highway. EXCELLENT CAMPING GROUNDS. THE CLIMATE IS UNEXCELLED. FULL STOCK OF BATHING SUITS TO RENT OR SELL. DANCE PAVILION EQUIPPED WITH ELECTRIC PIANO. THE LAKE AND ALL DRESSING ROOMS ARE LIGHTED WITH ELECTRICITY.
PostmarkedGAINESVILLE
Stamp
Addressed to
Mrs Mary Gamble

2503 Manteo Ave Norfolk, VA

Postcard record

PostmarkedGAINESVILLE
PublisherCommercialchrome
Series60459
ConditionGood
Place addressedMrs Mary Gamble, 2503 Manteo Ave, Norfolk, VA
Place depictedPocalla Springs, Sumter, SC
Stamp2c George Washington, red, issued 1902
NotesWhite border on all sides; printed advertising text on the front. Minor corner wear and a small tear/crease at the upper right edge. Postmark: GAINESVILLE 4 PM 1945, double-circle cancellation struck over the POST CARD heading; the Norfolk, Va. address is the destination, not a postmark. Divided-back Commercialchrome card, pencil message, light edge wear; pencil initials in the lower right corner.

Cite this card

Pocalla Springs picnic grounds and bathing lake, Sumter, SC, 1945, postcard, c. 1945. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/pocalla-springs-picnic-grounds-and-bathing-lake-sumter-sc-19. Accessed November 2, 2026.