Everything's bigger in Texas, so it's no surprise that the World's Largest Spring-Fed Swimming Pool is here too :) The pool is so big, the only way to take a picture of the whole pool is to FLY over it!!
Blasterz PROMISE that there is NOTHING like a plunge into the cool clear waters of the pool at Balmorhea State park after a long hot Texas summer day! It's the Nestea plunge -- ON STEROIDS!!!
Younger Blaserz loved swimming with baby frogs, fish, and turtles in this wonderful oasis. Mama Blaster enjoyed the history of this place, and all the CCC-built structures. We spent the night in the San Solomon Courts, which were very homey, historic, and cool -- thanks to new air conditioners added since the CCC era!
From the handbook of Texas online: (visit link)
"BALMORHEA STATE RECREATION AREA.
Balmorhea State Recreation Area is located at Toyahvale, at the northern entrance to the Davis Mountains on U.S. Highway 290 in southeastern Reeves County. The park, including its large rock-walled swimming pool, was built around San Solomon Springs by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. The springs, which have been called Mescalero and Head Springs at various times, issue from caverns in the bottom of the swimming pool. The pool covers one and three-quarters acres, is thirty feet deep in places, and has aquatic plants and fish living in its 76-degree water." [end]
From the Balmorhea State Park website: (visit link)
"Dive into the cool waters of the world’s largest spring-fed swimming pool, which covers 1.75 acres and stays at 72–76 degrees year round. Scuba divers love the clarity even at a 25-foot depth. In addition to swimming and camping, the San Solomon Courts offer motel-style retro lodging built by the CCC in the 1930s with a Southwestern adobe look; most units have kitchens." [end]
More on the history of the park: (
visit link)
"Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the early 1930s, the park was deeded in 1934 by private owners and Reeves County Water Improvement District No. 1. The park was opened in 1968.
San Solomon Springs have provided water for travelers for thousands of years. Artifacts indicate Indians used the springs extensively before white men came to the area. In 1849, the springs were called Mescalero Springs for the Mescalero Apache Indians who watered their horses along its banks. The present name was given by the first settlers, Mexican farmers who used the water for their crops and hand-dug the first irrigation canals.
Situated about four miles west of Balmorhea, Texas, the 45.9-acre Balmorhea State Park was constructed by Company 1856 of the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, between 1936 and 1941. The CCC was established as a New Deal program by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression as a way to employ people who would have otherwise been out of work. Many of the state parks in Texas were developed during this time.
Other CCC structures in the park include a limestone concession building, two wooden bathhouses, an adobe superintendent residence, and San Solomon Springs Courts, an early expression of the modern-day motel, constructed of adobe bricks. All of the CCC buildings are constructed in a Spanish Colonial style with stucco exteriors and tile roofs.
Visitors to Balmorhea State Park can enjoy a swim in the CCC-constructed pool and, if staying overnight, may choose to relax in one of the historic rooms at San Solomon Springs Courts. The lobby of the park office includes several photographs of the CCC at work in what is now Balmorhea State Park. When visiting the park, take time to see what the park property looked like in the late 1930s and what it looks like today." [end]
For specific information on the CCC camp that was so busy here, see this link: (
visit link)
"Long an important resource, San Solomon Springs was likely visited by Spanish explorer Antonio de Espejo in 1583. Centuries later, settlers arrived in the arid region, built irrigation ditches, and began farming. In the early 20th century engineer and manager E.D. Balcom joined with investors H.R. Morrow, Joe Rhea, and John Rhea to form an irrigation company and in the process gave the town its name (Bal-mor-rhea). Seeing the headwaters of San Solomon Springs as an attractive location for a park, the State Parks Board acquired the land in 1934. The next year, the CCC began construction of a huge double-wing swimming pool at those headwaters.
Using local limestone and adobe bricks, the enrollees of Company 1856, largely area residents, soon completed roads, buildings, bridges, and irrigation conduits throughout the forty-six-acre park. Architect William G. Wuehrman led a team of architects that included Olin Boese, Paul E. Pressler, George T. Patrick, and F. W. Digby-Roberts through the planning and design phases. They were funded by the National Park Service and employed by the State Parks Board. Among the notable buildings are the caretaker’s residence and San Solomon Courts. A paean to early automobilists traveling on U.S. Highway 290, the courts were distinctive one-story, red tile-roofed, white-plastered adobe brick cabins that had garages in each of the eighteen units. Soon after Company 1856 left in January 1940, Balmorhea State Park had become both a center for travelers touring the region by car and a gateway stop for those heading to the Davis Mountains.
CCC Co. 1856 was active from 1933-1940.
Here is a list of what exactly CCC Camp 1856 built at this park:
CCC Construction
Park Road 30
Entrance Portals
Combination Building
Bath Houses
Cabins (San Solomon Courts)
Pergolas
Shelters
Pool
Pump House
Fences
Retaining Walls
Vehicle and Foot Bridges
Pool Drain Conduit
Caretaker’s Residence" [end]