Summer has officially begun and as far as we’re concerned, there’s no better way to spend a sweltering summer day than by the cool of the pool.
Austinites have their choice of swimming holes — from the famous Barton Springs Pool to city pools and pool bars — but the Capital City is also home to Texas’ oldest swimming pool: Deep Eddy.
“Deep Eddy Resort,” named after a deep hole in the limestone that created an eddy flowing from the Colorado River, first opened in 1902 on the property of siblings Mary and Henry Johnson. Campsites, cottages, and a cable ride to the pool soon followed the resort’s opening.
Deep Eddy Pool as Austinites know it today came to be in 1915, when the site was sold to A.J. Eilers Sr., who converted the spring into a concrete pool. Eilers called it “Deep Eddy Bathing Beach,” and grew the resort to include a zip line, water slide, Ferris wheel, and concessions.
After two decades of poolside fun, the City of Austin purchased the property, just weeks before the flood of 1935 poured up to 41 ft of water into the city. The flood destroyed buildings around the pool, which reopened in July 1936 as a public park after repairs.
To this day, the pool is still fed by springs from the Colorado River, but there are a few differences from when it opened over 100 years ago:
- The pool’s popularity has inspired songs from local artists like Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Dale Watson and the name of spirit company Deep Eddy Vodka
- Deep Eddy Pool is a historic landmark on the National Register of Historic Places
- Nearby bar Deep Eddy Cabaret, which opened in 1951, is also a historic landmark
So next time you visit, know that Austinites past have done the same for over a century.
