- City:
- Dubuque, IA
- Site Type:
- Parks and Recreation, Swimming Pools
- New Deal Agency:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA)
- Started:
- 1937
- Completed:
- 1937
- Quality of Information:
- Good
- Marked:
- Unknown
- Site Survival:
- No Longer Extant
Description
The public swimming pool at Rafferty Slough in Dubuque, IA was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937.
Measuring 75 x 225 feet, the Dubuque pool was the largest and most expensive of a number of publicly constructed swimming pools in Iowa during the late 1930s and early 1940s. Over the course of its construction, the pool project secured employment for sixty-one laborers. The dedication of the pool culminated a total expenditure of $17,000 by the city of Dubuque with the rest of the funding coming from the WPA.
The opening ceremony included public speeches, diving exhibitions, and swimmers performing novel strokes in the new waters. The day concluded with a race among local competitors across the pool for a cracker and back.
Source notes
“Sixteen Ultra-Modern Pools for Iowa,” Parks & Recreation. May 1938.
Encyclopedia Dubuque, “Swimming Pool.” https://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=SWIMMING_POOL
Site originally submitted by Gray Brechin on March 27, 2022.
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