Fleishhacker Pool

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title: "Fleishhacker Pool" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["demolished-buildings-and-structures-in-san-francisco", "swimming-venues-in-san-francisco", "culture-of-san-francisco", "sunset-district,-san-francisco", "1920s-architecture-in-the-united-states", "mediterranean-revival-architecture-in-california", "buildings-and-structures-demolished-in-2000"] description: "Former swimming pool in San Francisco, California" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleishhacker_Pool" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Former swimming pool in San Francisco, California ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox building"]

Field	Value
name	Fleishhacker Pool
image	Fleishhacker_Swimming_Pool,_San_Francisco,California_Postcard(1932).jpg
caption	Postcard of Fleishhacker Pool in 1932
location	Sloat Boulevard and Great Highway
map_type	United States San Francisco County
map_caption	Location within San Francisco
status	Destroyed
location_town	San Francisco, California
location_country	United States
architect	Earl Clements (Fleishhacker Pool)

| | coordinates | | | construction_start_date | 1924 | | completion_date | 1925 | | date_demolished | 2000 | | style | Mediterranean Revival | | embedded | {{Infobox NRHP | embed=yes | | added | December 31, 1979 | | refnum | 79000529 | ::

| name = Fleishhacker Pool | image = Fleishhacker_Swimming_Pool,_San_Francisco,California_Postcard(1932).jpg | caption = Postcard of Fleishhacker Pool in 1932 | location = Sloat Boulevard and Great Highway | map_type = United States San Francisco County | map_caption = Location within San Francisco | status = Destroyed | location_town = San Francisco, California | location_country = United States | architect = Earl Clements (Fleishhacker Pool)

Clarence R. Ward and J. Harry Blohme (pool building and bath house) | coordinates = | construction_start_date= 1924 | completion_date = 1925 | date_demolished = 2000 | cost = | style = Mediterranean Revival | embedded = {{Infobox NRHP | embed=yes | name = | nrhp_type = | image = | added = December 31, 1979 | refnum=79000529 Fleishhacker Pool was a public saltwater swimming pool complex, located in the southwest corner of San Francisco, California, United States, next to the San Francisco Zoo at Sloat Boulevard and the Great Highway. Upon its completion in 1925, it was one of the largest outdoor swimming pools in the world; it remained open for more than four decades until its closure in 1971. It was demolished in 2000.

Context

In 1921, the Spring Valley Water Company finalized its project to "water" San Francisco with Yosemite spring water, and donated the pool's land to the city as part of this gigantic structural project.

Construction

The Fleishhacker Pool and the Fleishhacker Playfield complex were built by philanthropist and civic leader Herbert Fleishhacker in 1924, and opened on April 22, 1925. The pool measured 1000 by and held 6500000 usgal of seawater, and accommodated 10,000 bathers. At its opening it was the largest swimming pool in the United States and one of the largest (in theory) heated outdoor pools in the world. It had a diving pool measuring 50 ft square and 14 ft deep with a two-tiered diving tower. The pool was so large the lifeguards required rowboats for patrol and it was used by the military for drills and exercises.

The water was provided by a series of pumps and piping at high tide, directly from the Pacific Ocean 650 ft away, filtered, and heated. The pool's heater could warm 2800 usgal of seawater from 60 to each minute, in theory providing a constant pool water temperature of 72 F, though in practice it tended to vary between 65 and, which was sometimes too cold for comfortable swimming.

The Mother’s Building (also known as the Delia Fleishhacker Memorial Building) was built next to the children's wading pool; the building served as a lounge for mothers and small children. The wading pool was removed in 1940; and it was replaced by the children's zoo by 1960.

Decline

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Fleischhacker_Pool_&_Bath_House.jpg" caption="Fleishhacker Pool and Bath House (closed) (1979)"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Remains_of_Fleishhacker_Pool_Bath_House.JPG" caption="Remains of Fleishhacker Pool Bath House. The building burned down in December 2012. The rubble has been removed and all that remains is the framing around the main entrances. The photo was taken from the San Francisco Zoo parking lot, facing west."] ::

After years of underfunding and poor maintenance, the pool was showing some deterioration when a storm in January 1971 damaged its drainage pipe. Usage of the pool had been low, and the repair costs exceeded the City's budget, so the pool was converted to fresh water, resulting in poor water quality; it was closed by the end of 1971.

In 1999, the San Francisco Zoological Society was granted ownership of the pool house. The swimming pool itself was filled with rocks and gravel, with the space now serving as a parking lot for the zoo. The pool house stood derelict and occupied by wildlife and homeless people for many years, until it was destroyed by a fire on December 1, 2012. The remaining ruins were demolished, but a fragment of the pool house still exists consisting of three ornate entrances.

The only remaining structure left from the Fleishhacker Pool complex is the Mother’s Building, presently located within the San Francisco Zoo and Gardens.

In Popular Culture

The proportions of Fleishhacker Pool are on display in "The Girls and Guns Case," the 28th episode of the fifth season of the classic 1950s CBS-TV series, The Lineup. In a two-minute scene (11:46-13:42 on the video timeline) in whch the two San Francisco police-detective heroes journey to the pool to interrogate a witness, cinematographer Nick Musuraca makes a sweeping view of a swimming facility so vast it seems to go on forever. The show aired on April 3, 1959.

References

References

1. (2008-11-24). "Bearings - Fleishhacker Pool - A Strange Journey Through S.F. History".
2. Tessa McLean. (March 20, 2020). "The largest pool in the U.S. was once in San Francisco". San Francisco Chronicle.
3. Kevin Starr. (2002). "The Dream Endures: California Enters the 1940s". Oxford University Press.
4. James Smith. (2007). "Fleishhacker Pool". San Francisco City Guides.
5. (1979). ["National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Fleishhacker, Delia, Memorial Building"]({{NRHP url). [[National Park Service]]}} With {{NRHP url.
6. "Historic Sites: Fleishhacker Pool". San Francisco Zoological Society.
7. Brock Keeling. (December 1, 2012). "Fleishhacker Pool House Next To SF Zoo On Fire". SFist.
8. Peter Fimrite. (December 19, 2012). "Fleishhacker bathhouse facing demolition". San Francisco Chronicle.
9. "Fleishhacker Pool Ruins". Atlas Obscura.
10. "KNX Collection (PA Mss 167).".

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