Sunday, December 13, 2009
Lost Memphis "ALL OUT WHEN BELL RINGS" — Fairgrounds Pool
Posted by Vance Lauderdale on Sun, Dec 13, 2009 at 9:44 PM
- The Fairgrounds Pool
Sometime in the 1930s — I could look up the exact date, but I'm pretty comfy in my chair here, and the book is all the way across the room — city leaders built Memphis' largest swimming pool. It was a huge, oval thing, surrounded by sand beaches. Maywood and Clearpool did the same thing. With sand, I mean.
On the west side was a low building (shown here) that housed showers, changing rooms, and showers. And across the front was a big sign, as you can plainly see, warning all swimmers "ALL OUT WHEN BELL RINGS." In other words, get out of the pool when the lifeguard rings a bell — either to signify that somebody might be drowning, or your swimming day was coming to a close. I don't recall what those tile-roofed buildings in the background were used for. I can only do so much, you know, and these days that's really not much at all.
Notice the old-fashioned lightpoles around the pool. I wonder: was this place open at night?
And yes, as I sit here shivering in the drafty Lauderdale Mansion, I realize it's not exactly the season for outdoor swimming, but I thought I'd share the old photo with you anyway. This place was known as the civic pool, and just like Rainbow Lake, Clearpool, and Maywood (and in more recent years, Adventure River), there's not a trace of it. Despite our unbearable summers, Memphis, it seems, just can't support a big outdoor swimming complex. It doesn't make sense, does it?
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Au contraire, there's still a trace of Maywood down there. Just the houses, of course, some of which still bear their nifty resort look, from when Maywood and Mineral Wells were almost as popular resort destinations as Raleigh.
If you drive around the Maywood neighborhood today (and can do so without becoming hopelessly lost - seriously, somebody needs to shoot a horror movie down there), you can still see a few traces. A couple of years ago, we almost bought a house that backed up to the now-empty lake. But when one of my children was almost carried off by a local mosquito, we decided to shop elsewhere.
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I wish someone could come up with some pictures of Rainbow Lake swimming pool. I spent a lot of fun summers there in the early 60s.
Shameless Plug: On page 55 of my "Ask Vance" book (available at Davis-Kidd or by calling 575-9470), I tell the fascinating story of Rainbow Lake and include a nice photo of Beverly Pieraccini (the owner's daughter) standing by the pool, as well as a smaller photo of the Rainbow Lake Terrace Room.
