For Central Texans, a summertime dip at Deep Eddy Pool is both a rite of passage and a necessary antidote to surviving triple-digit summer temperatures. What most Texans might not realize is that Deep Eddy Pool isn’t just a refreshing spring-fed oasis for beating the heat — it’s also the oldest pool in all of the Lone Star State.
For more than 110 years, Deep Eddy has served as a respite for Texans in search of some water-fueled TLC. The origins of Deep Eddy trace back to 1915, when A.J. Eilers, Sr. purchased the land surrounding the present site to construct a concrete pool, marking the first in Texas, per City of Austin documents. Eilers pulled inspiration for Deep Eddy’s name from an eddy swirling next to a boulder along the Colorado River, where Texans had been swimming for years.
“Cold springs rose from the river banks next to this popular swimming area and the water from these springs continue to fill the pool today,” Austin Parks and Recreation officials wrote online.
In its early days, Deep Eddy Pool served as an epicenter of a recreation resort, including the Deep Eddy Bathing Beach with cabins, camping and concessions, according to the Friends of Deep Eddy organization. Those attractions grew to zip lines stretching across the pool, slides, a diving platform and a Ferris wheel.
Twenty years after its creation, the city of Austin purchased the property in 1935. A mere two weeks after that purchase, massive flooding along the Colorado River destroyed the resort and littered the pool with mud and other debris. Restoration efforts began, and the pool reopened to the public as a city park in July 1936.
Today, Deep Eddy resides as a historic landmark on the National Register of Historic Places and has served as a namesake and inspiration for neighboring businesses, including the historic Deep Eddy Cabaret, a 75-year-old jukebox watering hole.
Deep Eddy, alongside Barton Springs Pool, marks the only spring-fed pools within Austin’s city limits. Elsewhere in Austin, Twin Falls and Sculpture Falls along the Barton Creek Greenbelt offer natural swimming spots when drought conditions are reduced, and there has been ample rainfall.
Neighboring spring-fueled pools within Central Texas include Blue Hole Regional Park in Wimberley, Krause Springs in Spicewood, Hamilton Pool Reserve in Dripping Springs and Jacob’s Well Natural Area in Wimberley — the latter of which saw a short-lived surge in water flow in early May.