Opening in 1906, the Nereides Baths was Tacoma’s first indoor swimming pool and a community landmark. Located at Point Defiance Park, it was a place where countless people learned to swim before its closure in the 1920s.
Tacoma’s First Indoor Swimming Pool
In 1906, a group of local businessmen banded together to build a “natatorium” or indoor, heated saltwater swimming pool at Point Defiance Park. Their company leased land atop the bluffs from the park board. Construction of a Swiss chalet-style building began on February 26. Designed by Tacoma architect Frederick Heath, the work was rushed to be ready for summer.
The businessmen named their swimming pool the “Nereides Baths.” In ancient Greek mythology, the Nereides, or Nereids, are the 50 daughters of Nereus, the “Old Man of the Sea,” and the ocean nymph Doris. They were often depicted as accompanying the sea god Poseidon and aiding sailors in distress.
The Nereides Bath housed a 50 by 150-foot concrete pool. Its depth gradually tapered from three feet to nine feet. The 250,000 gallons needed to fill the pool were pumped from Puget Sound when the tide was high enough. A wood-burning boiler heated the pool to a warm 80 degrees. Wood was supplied by a flume from the bay. A 1977 Tacoma News Tribune article reminisced how young boys from Ruston would sometimes gather loose logs from nearby sawmills and turn them in for free admission to the pool.
Enjoying a Swim at Nereides Baths in Tacoma
The Nereides Baths opened on May 30, 1906. It operated daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and cost a quarter to swim or only a dime to watch. Swimmers could borrow bathing suits or towels for free if they did not bring their own. In the early years, the Nereides was open all year but later only in the summer.
The pool had a capacity of 500, but 200 was the normal limit. A swimming instructor and three attendants kept an eye on things. In 1909, a special police officer was hired after an investigation found young men and women engaging in “very improper” behavior at the baths. In 1914, Friday afternoons were reserved for women swimmers only.
Nereides Baths Changes Ownership
The Nereides Baths became a community gathering spot. Before the YMCA got its own pool, it held events there. In 1907, the YMCA held contests and races. They even challenged Tacoma High School to water basketball, setting up nets in the pool. The High School won.
The Nereides Baths Company’s original 12-year lease expired in 1918, and the Park Board took over ownership. They debated closing the pool because the cost to repair it exceeded its profitability in good years—and most years were not good.
In the end, the Board decided to risk keeping the baths open after making needed repairs and upgrades. Tacoma was glad to see it stay. During the last week of August alone, the baths welcomed 3,146 “bathers,” earning $859.70.
Learning to Swim at Tacoma’s Nereides Baths
Despite being on the waterfront, most people in Tacoma could not swim. The Nereides Baths proved a safe place to learn. Over time, the baths offered free lessons with professional teachers. In the early 1920s, the county held “Learn to Swim Week” at the pool. The YWCA sponsored the event in 1921.
In 1923, father and daughter “Professor” and Claire Ray, who had recently moved from Miami, offered several weeks of free swimming lessons. The classes were co-sponsored by the Tacoma Ledger newspaper and Metro Parks. Able to handle four students at a time, hundreds, both young and old, signed up. Claire, a New York Normal School graduate and champion swimmer and athlete, promised they could teach anyone to swim in three lessons.
Nereides Baths a Public Health Hazard?
Promoters promised that the pool water was as “pure as the Sound.” In an era when raw sewage and industrial waste were dumped into Commencement Bay, that claim was dubious. There was no chlorine or other chemicals to clean pool water. Regularly draining and suction hosing the bottom of the pool could only do so much, even after the baths installed a new electric pump in 1924.
In 1927, the Tacoma Public Health Department ordered the Nereides Baths to close at the end of the fall season. To reopen, the pool water needed to be safe enough to drink, the pool emptied completely every four hours, and swimsuits sterilized. These rules closed nearly all the city’s pools, at least temporarily.
The Metro Park Board decided that it was too expensive to fix up the unprofitable Nereides Baths to comply with the new city ordinance. There was some thought of draining the pool and putting in a wood floor for a gym or turning it into a wintertime ice rink. The building was torn down in the 1930s.
The site of the Nereides Baths is now a parking lot adjacent to the Vashon Island ferry terminal. Perhaps when you pass by, you can hear the splish splash of swimmers echoing from the past.
