Credit: Charles Hardy III
In the late 1800s, cities across the nation began to construct public swimming pools to improve public health and urban life. To combat the high incidence of waterborne typhoid among its residents, the City of Erie began construction of an elaborate new water supply system in the late 1890s, including a new pumping station and a water treatment plant at the base of Chestnut Street on Lake Erie. In 1902 the Erie Water Commission opened a large community pool that was free to the public.
