Photo by Annie Duff — Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

If you lived in Carleton Place in years gone by you did most of your swimming at Manny’s Point. If you got on the boom at a point where W. A. Nichols Mill stood- you only had two gaps to jump. If you were lucky you went on your way.- if not, you had a swim not where you anticipated.

Wendy LeBlanc-– Linda, are you aware of ‘The Big Rock’ which is located about 25 feet or so into the water from the pile of sawn lumber at the left of the photo? It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where it would be from this photo. The much-loved Big Rock was a destination for kids swimming across from Riverside Park before the swimming beach was built at Centennial Park. We did swim in that area – even though we were told not to by our parents – as there was no lifeguard on that side. Many happy summer hours were spent there.

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