Walkertown Community Center

A popular swimming lake located on 47 acres in  Walkertown, North Carolina. The lake was in operation from the 1960s-1970s; it no longer exists. 

The park was located off Camp Betty Hastings Road on Walkertown Community Center Road. It was about 3 miles from the center of town.

Walkertown Community Center location on Google Maps

The site started out as Camp Lasater, a Boy Scout camp. In 1954, after the scouts opened the 1,000 acres Raven Knob Boy Scout Reservation in Surry County, the land was used for other summer camp activities.

Walkertown Community Center Inc. developed the park with its lodge and miles of walking trails and it soon became a gathering place for community activities, picnics, family reunions, and town dances. The racially integrated pool opened in the ’60s and drew patrons from all over the area. 

Soon, people from the surrounding counties began flocking to the park. Regional YMCAs began busing people to the park.

Walkertown residents who had contributed money to purchase the park weren’t spending a lot of time at the pool; the park was too far for the youth of Walkertown to get to easily. The park became too expensive for Walkertown to operate and maintain.

In 1969, the Walkertown Community Center Inc. agreed to lease the pool and park grounds to the YMCA for $1 a year. In 1973, the Kernersville YMCA was built and featured a large indoor pool. People gradually stopped visiting the Walkertown pool, and it eventually shut down.

In 1984, Walkertown Community Center Inc. sold the land for $120,000; the site is now a private residential property. The money from the sale was used to help develop a more central recreation site, the Walkertown Community Park at the intersection of U.S. 158 and Martin Street.

As a teenager, I went to Lake Woussicket many times with friends to swim and meet girls.