Paradise Rediscovered?

La Grange’s Once-Famous, Long Forgotten, Blue Hole Swimming Spot Could Become ‘Holy Water Hotel’

The “Blue Hole” outside La Grange saw its first baptism in more than a half century on Saturday, Nov. 20.

Some local folks may remember the spot as a popular swimming hole during their youths. Before automobiles, the spot served as a watering hole on an old stagecoach route. It also hosted baptisms for many local churches that practiced the full immersion ritual.

Howard Konetzky recently sold the property, located between La Grange and Rutersville, to Bobby Tyson of Houston. Konetzky told Tyson about the history of Blue Hole. Several children in Tyson’s family were ready for baptism. His brother Mitchell Tyson, an ordained minister, brought them into the Lord’s Kingdom with the living waters of Blue Hole on Saturday afternoon.

They probably won’t be the last.

“We have a plan for this place, and basically, we want to call it The Holy Water Hotel,” Bobby Tyson said. “We want to open it to people who want to get away from Austin and Houston, maybe five to eight unique structures out here for people to come and unplug and hang out.”

Tyson, who works in the Houston real estate market, comes from a family of hockey players.

“We’re used to being up north during the winter time and enjoying all that has to offer,” he said. “So when we found this place, it really feels like you’re in the middle of British Columbia.”

The property’s unique landscape feels unlike any other in this part of Texas. Over the ages, High Hill Creek carved an undulating path through a sandstone formation that runs through the property. Cottonwood trees jut up from the rock, their roots anchored in cracks. Konetzky pointed to big slabs of sandstone leaning into the water. He said they broke from the edge in the 1960s after Hurricane Carla downed an oak tree that was growing through the rock. The wavy staircase of sandstone ends at a small waterfall that splashes down a few feet into Blue Hole.

The hole reaches 20 feet or more in depth at the center. A cave supposedly extends under the falls. No one on Saturday wanted to swim in the darkness to find out how far it goes.

Konetzky said his family owned the place since 1952. He said only one other family owned it before his, and they acquired it through a Spanish land grant in the early 1800s. That would make Tyson just the third owner since Texas Independence.

“Just about everyone in La Grange went swimming out here,” he said.

Konetzky, a retired plumber, recalled working on a job in the First Presbyterian Church in La Grange back in the 1970s. On the wall of the pastor’s office hung an old photograph showing a group of people in long white robes getting baptized in the Blue Hole. He made a copy of the photo at the time, but he has since lost it. The Church no longer has it either. Konetzky recalled his father saying that some local African-American congregations still used the spot for baptisms shortly after they bought the property.

“There probably hasn’t been a baptism in Blue Hole in 70 years,” Konetzky said.

Tyson’s extended family gathered on the rock at the falls’ edge around 2:30 p.m. on Saturday for the baptism. Bobby and several of his children, nieces and nephews boarded an inflatable raft. His brother Mitch stood knee deep in the water. He began the ceremony with a sermon about Isaiah 6:8, where the prophet writes, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”

Mitch told the children about Isaiah’s commission from God, comparing it to the baptism they were about to receive. One by one, he asked them to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Each accepted and Mitch lowered them into the water.

“I always wanted to do build a park or a restaurant overlooking the water,” Konetzky said. “I finally found someone to buy it and carry on the vision I had, and to preserve the history of the hole.”

Got a memory or photo of the Blue Hole from years past? Call or email reporter Andy Behlen at 979-968-3155 or andy@ fayettecountyrecord.com