Just north of the Cliff House, waves wash over a field of concrete foundations. They are what remains of Sutro Baths, which the National Park Service calls Adolph Sutro's ambitious public bathhouse.
A glass palace on the ocean
According to the park service, the complex covered three acres. A Greek-style entrance led into a huge glass enclosure with seven pools at different temperatures, plus slides, trapezes and a high dive. At high tide, the ocean could fill the pools' 1.7 million gallons in about an hour. The baths held 10,000 people at once and rented out 20,000 bathing suits and 40,000 towels. KQED reports that they formally opened in 1896 and that admission was 25 cents. Historian John Martini told KQED the result was the world's largest indoor swimming complex.
A civil-rights case
KQED reports that on July 4, 1897, a Black man named John Harris was refused entry to the baths. He sued under California's Dibble Civil Rights Act and won $100.
Decline and fire
Sutro died in 1898. The park service says the baths lost popularity through the Depression, as public transit was cut back and new health codes arrived. The owners turned part of the building into an ice rink, but it never paid. In 1964, developers bought the site to build high-rise apartments and began demolition. Fire destroyed what was left in 1966, and the apartments were never built. KQED reports the fire started on June 26, 1966, and police suspected arson but never proved it. The Western Neighborhoods Project's OutsideLands.org keeps an archive of photos of the fire.
The ruins today
The ruins have been part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area since 1973, per the park service. KQED reports that when the park service asked the public what to do with the site, people chose to leave the ruins as they are.