Group at North End Municipal Swimming Pool

This lantern slide shows over fifty boys wearing swimwear in front of a building near Lake Massasoit (also known as Watershops Pond). Some of the boys are on top of the roof of the building.Lake Massasoit was used as a public swimming area for residents of Springfield. In “Boating Rules” (c. 1904), J. H. McCurdy writes, “The entire portion of the Pond east of New England R. R. Bridge can be used by the public at all hours on Sundays and legal Public Holidays, and on other days only between 5 P.M. and 8 A.M.” Lake Massasoit was formed when the Armory, now a National Historic Site, dammed Mill River to generate energy. On the shore of Lake Massasoit, the City of Springfield built two bath houses. The surrounding community used these until 1920, when the structures were destroyed to create space for a Springfield Ice Co. building. It is unclear whether the city replaced them, although they initially said this was their intention. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, townships began building public baths to improve the health and sanitary condition of the public. They were typically built along rivers, lakes, or oceans, and followed the same general layout: one women’s dressing room and one men’s dressing room, both separated by restrooms and an area for towel and swimwear rental. This was at a time when most people lacked indoor plumbing, and with the advent of germ theory, bath houses became popular locales.Text on border reads, "Group at North End. Municipal Swimming Pool.