Imagine a pool so big, that you could go at the same time as a friend and totally miss each other. A pool so big, that you would need the ocean’s help to fill it. A pool so big, it really wouldn’t matter if you peed ###### of it.
San Francisco’s superpools have dwindled in previous decades, but the city once had some of the most physically impressive swimming palaces in the nation. I’ve focused on the three largest ones, mostly because of picture availability. But there were several other smaller salt water and fresh water pools, and the Fairmont Hotel from the 1920s to 1940s had a glorious swimming pool where the Tonga Room is now.
If you want to know more about Sutro Baths history, check out Tom Wyrsch’s documentary “Sutro’s: The Palace at Lands End.” (http://www.garfieldlaneproductions.com/Sutro.html) The photos here are from the later Sutro years — the 1940s until demolition. Wyrsch covers the history going back to the 1800s.
