A splashy history of the oldest swimming pool in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas -- Imagine silent movies, a Ferris wheel, carousel rides, a diving horse show, a man called the Human Fish, a world-renowned diving baby, a 50-foot diving tower, a 70-foot slide, trapeze swings, and enthralled visitors, along with picnic areas, cabins, and campsites in one of the biggest cities in Texas. This was reality at the Deep Eddy Bathing Beach resort managed by George A. Rowley in Austin in the early 1900s.

Deep Eddy Pool, or just Deep Eddy as locals call it, is the oldest swimming pool in the state, predating the establishment of Austin's Zilker Park in 1917 and Barton Springs Pool in 1918. The pool was named after an eddy formed by a deep hole in a limestone bed of the Colorado River. A.J. Eilers Sr. bought the property in 1915 and called it Deep Eddy Resort.

Before the pool opened, folks were shuttled to the bathing beach by electric trolley to enjoy a cool respite, especially during summer months, before air-conditioning was invented.

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