PHOTO OF THE DAY: ONCE UPON A TIME
This striking photo was posted to Facebook Monday, June 2 by Heritage Hall Museum & Archives as its weekly look back, along with the following information.
This aerial photo (looking to the east) from about 60 years ago shows the Freeman Swimming Pool with the baseball field in the background.We know the photo was made sometime after spring 1964, because the bathhouse was completed in time for the pool’s opening in June of that year.
Freeman didn’t have a swimming pool until the summer of 1960, and it wasn’t built by the city.
In September 1957, the Freeman Courierreported “23 people from Freeman and community met at the City Cafe for the purpose of making plans for a community swimming pool. 15 different organizations were present as well as some rural representation.”
Shortly after that, fundraising efforts began to raise the $40,000 set as a goal for construction. A Swimming Pool Auxiliary was formed with promotions including stunt nights, baseball games, basketball benefits, raffles, auctions, World Series boards, and trick or treating (for money instead of candy) on Halloween.
By the end of the following year, nearly half that amount had been raised. In February 1959, the Courier reported that, “13 lots have been bought west of the ballpark which will provide ample space for the swimming pool parking area plus an additional beautiful city park.”
The formal opening for the pool was 65 years ago this summer, Sunday, July 17, 1960, and it was turned over to the City of Freeman. The tennis courts were built west of the pool in 1979, and the wading pool was built east of the pool in 1989.
A few things in the photo that caught our attention:
• The high diving board on the southwest side of the pool.
• The young trees already planted as part of developing a new park.
• The grandstand at the baseball field.
• The rows of grain bins northeast of the baseball field.
Photographs are an important way we mark time and share history and a key resource in our archives. We’re open from 10 to 4 Mondays through Saturdays through September; that includes holidays.
