Deep Eddy Pool

Deep Eddy Bathing Beach in the 1920s.

Deep Eddy began as a swimming hole located along the banks of the Colorado River which flows through Austin. It takes its name from an eddy that was formed by a large limestone outcropping which once jutted out into the river. In 1902, siblings Mary and Henry Johnson established the Deep Eddy Bathing Beach on the property (which was owned by their father).[2] At that time the property was located outside of Austin, but was a short walk from the end of the city's electric trolley car line.[3] Along with boating, camping, and fishing, amenities included a zip line, a dancing pavilion,[4] and a horse-powered merry-go-round.[2] In this era, before the advent of widespread public parks, the Deep Eddy Bathing Beach served as a "privately owned recreation area open to the public."[2]

In 1915, the business and land were sold to A.J. Eilers and Partners.[5] Eilers then hired contractors Max Brueggerman and William Maufrias to build a concrete pool which opened during the summer of 1916.[6] George Rowley, a partner of Eilers and a former movie theater owner from San Antonio, was hired to manage the business; he and his family moved into the caretaker's house on the property. A wooden bathhouse was built, as well as nineteen wooden rental cottages which replaced the campsites on the hill overlooking the pool.[7] Under Rowley's management, the Deep Eddy Bathing Beach was "as much carnival ground as swimming pool".[8] A Ferris wheel was built, as well as a 70-foot slide that emptied into the pool. There were "springboards, a flying trapeze, flying rings, horizontal bars and a forty-foot diving tower."[9] Free silent movies were shown on a movie screen that was installed in the park adjacent to the pool, and a variety of entertainers performed such as Fred Lowery, Marcia Burke the "World Champion Diving Baby", and Jack Freith "the Human Fish" who ate food while underwater.[10] Perhaps the most popular performer was Lorena and Her Diving Horse. The act, which was performed regularly each evening, saw Lorena, astride her horse, dive off a specially built platform into a canvas-lined tank 30 to 50 feet below.[10]

In May 1935, the City of Austin bought the property for $10,000.[11] Less than a month after the purchase, a massive flood on the Colorado River destroyed the bathhouse and other improvements, and filled the pool with mud and debris.[7] The Works Progress Administration and the city of Austin jointly funded the building of a new bathhouse, which was designed by Austin architects Dan Driscoll and Delmar Groos.[7] The new bathhouse was a mixture of Moderne and Rustic architectural styles; a relatively simple, L-shaped, single story building of rough-hewn and locally quarried limestone.[12] The "pagoda-like roof",[13] consisting of three metal platforms of decreasing size topped with a twenty-foot spire, covered only the reception area at the intersection of the two wings where swimmers paid their entry fees. At the center of this area sat an octagonal wood and limestone ticket counter, and above it hung a "wagon wheel, ringed with lights, suspended by chains."[13] The men's and women's dressing rooms were located on either side of the entryway and were open to the elements. Initial plans called for the entire structure to be roofed, but the roofs over the dressing areas were removed from the plans when the project went overbudget.[14] Using less space, the new bathhouse could accommodate more bathers than the private dressing rooms or cabanas which it replaced, and this economy was "passed on to the public through lower usages fees."[15] The pool and bathhouse opened as a public park in July 1936.[16]

Over time, the city has put the property to a variety of uses. While the pool continues in operation, the city separated the western edge of the land as a park and playground named after A.J. Eilers.[17] In 1962, the Austin Natural Science Center moved into the eastern portion of the bathhouse and significant alterations to the building were made. The patio on the southeastern side of the building was covered, and animal pens were installed along the outside of the eastern wall. Educational programs were hosted there, and exhibits on native Texas wildlife were on display. The western side of the bathhouse, however, remained dedicated to pool activities.[18] After the Natural Science Center moved to Zilker Park in the 1980s, the building was used as office space until it was discovered that structural problems with the roof made it unsafe to occupy. Consequently, that portion of the bathhouse became a "forgotten city asset"[2] until an effort to restore the bathhouse was spearheaded by the Friends of Deep Eddy group in 2002.[19]

In 2003, for safety reasons, the city removed the 70-year-old, 50-foot-tall (15 m) cottonwoods that surrounded the pool.[20] In 2012 the City of Austin rebuilt the pool due to stubborn leaks in the pool shell which had been patched repeatedly.[21] Work crews poured a new bottom on both sides of the pool, and repaired small cracks and leaks. The pool's west end was smoothed and lengthened and a beach-type (zero-depth) entry was created. The project also included the widening of the pool deck, the addition of another pump outlet, as well as a new wrought iron fence and new lifeguard stands.[22]

Historical marker at Deep Eddy Pool

Deep Eddy Pool is listed as a historic landmark on the National Register of Historic Places and has been the inspiration of various works of art. Architectural design elements were replicated by Dan Driscoll in his design of the Barton Springs Pool Bathhouse in 1946,[14] Texas musician Jimmie Dale Gilmore wrote the song "Deep Eddy Blues" about the pool and the nearby bar, the Deep Eddy Cabaret.