Deep Eddy Pool, Historic swimming pool in Austin, United States

Deep Eddy Pool is a concrete swimming pool in Austin, Texas, built in 1916 and rebuilt by the city in 2012. Two blue metal handrails curve into the light blue water at short yellow-edged concrete steps, and a low wall of tan stone blocks borders the pool. Behind it, tan stone terraces and grass rise toward a taller retaining wall.

A.J. Eilers Sr. opened this riverside bathing spot in 1915 as a private resort before selling it to the city, which transformed it into a public pool. During the 1930s crews rebuilt the facility following National Park Service designs that still shape the grounds today.

The name comes from an eddy formed by a large limestone outcropping that once jutted into the Colorado River. The site opened in 1902 as the Deep Eddy Bathing Beach, run by siblings Mary and Henry Johnson. In the 1920s manager George Rowley staged free silent movies and nightly dives by Lorena and Her Diving Horse, who plunged from a platform into a canvas-lined tank.

Water stays around 68 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (20 to 21 degrees Celsius) year-round, offering relief during hot summer months. Swimmers looking for lap space find quieter conditions in early morning, while afternoons draw families with young children to the shallow section.

The pool's name comes from an eddy formed by a large limestone outcropping that once jutted into the Colorado River. In 1916 contractors Max Brueggerman and William Maufrias built the first concrete pool here, and a 70-foot slide once emptied into the water.