Deep Eddy Bathing Beach

Deep Eddy Bathing Beach sits on a bend of the Colorado River in Austin, Texas. It began in 1902, when Mary and Henry Johnson opened a swimming and camping area on their father's land at the end of a streetcar line. A.J. Eilers bought it in 1915 and had a concrete pool built, open by summer 1916. Manager George Rowley added movies, diving acts and other entertainment. The City of Austin bought the property during the Depression. After a flood destroyed the wooden buildings, the city used Works Progress Administration funds to build a limestone bathhouse in 1935, designed by local architects Dan Driscoll and Delmar Groos. Its simple rustic design, open-air dressing rooms and multi-tiered pagoda-like metal roof follow National Park Service park-building trends. The 204-by-99.5-foot pool, fed by un-chlorinated spring water, remains essentially unchanged, and the site keeps a high degree of integrity. It is listed for its recreation history and its New Deal-era architecture.