Belton Natatorium

“There is vim in a swim” at the Belton Natatorium, a super-sanitary indoor pool with diving from springboards, swings, and flying rings! So stated an ad in the Belton Journal of August 1921. The Belton Natatorium was located at 111 West Central near Nolan Creek, today’s site of the Bell County Law Enforcement Center, and was extremely popular with both young people and adults in early-day Belton.

The Fort Worth Daily Gazette reported on February 29, 1892 that plans for an $8000 natatorium had been accepted by the Natatorium Company, a private enterprise. The natatorium was built and enjoyed for about a decade. Mayor Neal Bassel was credited with repairing and reopening the natatorium in the spring of 1914 after a ten-year closure. By this time, the city owned the pool, and for the next six years, it was a prime source of entertainment for the Belton community. In the spring of 1920, the size of the pool was doubled, the number of bathrooms was increased, and a complete beauty parlor was added “for the ladies.” The pool and its adjacent park were two sources of civic pride, earning Belton the nickname, “The Playground of Texas.” Both the city park and the pool attracted visitors from all over the state.

The Belton natatorium was said to “hold out promises of both pleasure and health to native and visitor.” The 81-by-90-foot pool held 650,000 gallons of 99.6 percent pure artesian water. It was said to be one of only three places in the state offering a complete system of baths. Hot tubs, Turkish baths, salt rubs, and electric baths were featured, and reports of “wonderful results” came from sufferers of eczema, rheumatism, obesity, and various skin disorders.

In 1932 plans were made to remodel the Belton Natatorium. City Manager, A. E. Taylor, reported that many of the basic parts of the building had rotted away, necessitating the repair and modernization of the building. In a conference with I. H. Hale of the State Health Department, Taylor, Commissioner Frank Hamer, and members of the water board discussed recirculation and chlorination of water in the pool. Plans called for rearrangement of the dressing rooms, repairing concrete work, and repainting the open-air pool. A sand beach between the natatorium and Lake Bassel was also planned.

The pool was open seven days a week despite a petition calling for its closure on Sundays in 1921. Certain times were set aside for ladies’ swimming only with mixed swimming permitted on most days. The cost for adults with suit rental was twenty-five cents; the cost for children with suits furnished was twenty cents. It was reported in 1938 that the natatorium produced $2500 in annual revenue, not enough to cover its expenses. However, the city elected to keep it going by including its operational expenses with those of the water and sewer services. By the 1950s, the artesian well was depleted, and fewer citizens frequented the pool. The natatorium was torn down in the 1960s.

Benoit, Patricia K. Pool a Point of Civic Pride in Belton For More Than Half a Century, Temple Daily Telegram. August 12, 2013. Accessed April 9, 2020.

City Council Meets in Adjourned Session; Mayor Resigns; Effective October 13, Belton Journal. September 16, 1920. Accessed April 9, 2020.

Natatorium Is to Be Repaired in the Near Future, Taylor Says, Belton Journal. March 17, 1932. Accessed April 9, 2020.

The Municipal Natatorium and Park Earning For Belton the Name of "The Playground of Central Texas", Belton Journal. June 1,1920. Accessed April 9, 2020.