Explore Trailblazing History!

Sutro Baths Promoted San Francisco Wellness

Sutro Baths were the place to be seen in the late 1890s at the far western side of San Francisco just north of Golden Gate Park. It was the centerpiece of Adolph Sutro’s iconic vision of healthy recreation for all—rich or poor. The public swimming complex spread across three acres of Lands End with several pools of seawater heated to various temperatures. The tanks held up to 1.7 million gallons of incoming seawater at high tide. Enormous slides, springboards and carnival-style water rides could be viewed from stadium seating for 3,700 people.

The twenty-five-cent admission included rental of a branded Sutro Baths swimsuit and towel with entrance to 500 dressing rooms. To round out the Sutro Baths vision of a healthy destination, Sutro included a natural history museum and art gallery that held his treasures from world travels. The Sutro Baths had three restaurants and hosted regular entertainment and concerts.

Volumes have been written about Sutro Baths. Following are TEN highlights.

#1-Adolph Sutro Envisioned Places For Public Recreation and Health

A German immigrant to California in 1850, Adolph Sutro (1830-1898) was an inventor and Mining Engineer of Jewish heritage. He made his original fortune from the Comstock Lode silver mines in Nevada. Also an entrepreneur with a keen business sense, he eventually owned an estimated 1/12th of the land of San Francisco. His vision as a developer helped shape San Francisco in the late 19th century.

According to American Jerusalem, Sutro wrote:

“’I have the most exalted ideas regarding the future of California. I think we will grow in population, we will grow in commerce, we will grow in civilization and arts and sciences until we will rank first among our countries, and my reason for it is, that the invigorating climate of California is such, that under development, the human physique will grow and the mind will grow in the same proportion as the physique develops, and produce a magnificent man and woman of bright mind and liberal in their views and go-ahead spirit, who would foster and encourage the development of all the better traits of nature.’” (American Jerusalem)

Feeding his interest in natural history and marine studies, one of his pet projects was an ocean front complex that included an aquarium in the rocks north of the Cliff House and the Sutro Baths.

#2-His Project Was A Wonder Of Engineering And Design

The Sutro Baths enclosed a portion of the Pacic Ocean inside an enormous glass palace. Sutro adapted his background in mining Engineering to create this incredible construction.

In Architectural Histories: The Open Access Journal of the EAHN, Feliz Arrizabalaga writes:

“The seaside was sheltered, altered and tamed within three vaulted glass naves supported by a combination of iron columns and wooden trusses. Launched as the largest interior space for bathers in the world at the time the Sutro Baths were an early precursor of the contemporary water park: a strange amalgam of swimming pools, elevated promenades, club-rooms, an amphitheater, a winter garden, a taxidermy collection, and a wax museum, along with antiques and seashells.” 

For a detailed description of the design of Sutro Baths, see Arrizabalaga’s article: Sutro’s Interior Ocean: A Social Snapshot of 19th-Century.

#3-Leisure Time Was Growing Across America

From 1894 to 1915 American workers began to have more leisure time.

Industrial employers decreased working hours and offered a Saturday half-day holiday. Other employers soon did the same. Vacations became the norm for workers, although they were generally unpaid. Workers in search of a break from work increasingly escaped crowded cities for day trips.

In America At Work and Leisure, The Library of Congress writes:

“The Progressive movement was another factor which contributed to the increased value of leisure time for workers, as their health and well-being received more attention..” (LOC)

On the east coast, workers fled to places like Coney Island and the open beaches as swimming became increasingly popular. On the west coast, people traveled to favorite seaside spots including Coronado Island and Catalina Isalnd.

#4-Public Pools Were Not New

Public pools date back to Roman times. Throughout the nineteenth century interest in swimming for both health and recreation increased dramatically in England and North America.

According to The History and Significance of the Adolph Sutro Distric by National Park Service, the first modern English bath or America pool opened in Liverpool in 1828.

By the 1860s swimming clubs in British and American cities were holding inter-club competitions. Competitive swimming was included ‘in the first modern Olympic games in Athens in 1896. Women and the first Hawaiian male competed in swimming events in the Olympics of 1914.

A number of freshwater swimming facilities existed in the San Francisco Bay area in the late nineteenth century. A large public bathhouse existed in Oakland from around 1880, and Lurline Baths at Bush and Larkin streets opened in 1894 and remained in operation until 1936, getting its water from the Ocean just south of the Cliff House.” (NPS)

The time was ripe for Sutro Baths.

At its dedication in November 1894, the Sutro Baths could be compared to only a few buildings in the United States in terms of scale and technical achievement.” (NPS)

#5-Affordable Transportation Was Key For Public Success

Adolph Sutro envisioned his coastal development as a place to promote exercise and recreation to the San Francisco public, both rich and poor. But when Sutro Heights opened to the public in 1885, it could be reached only by private carriage or railroad that only the wealthy could afford.

Much like Seaside Resorts developing across England, cheap railway tickets were essential.

To make Sutro Baths affordable to San Francisco’s working class, Sutro supported development of a new steam rail. It ran between San Francisco’s downtown and the Cliff House. Tickets were roughly half the cost of a fare on the competing line. (NPS)

One popular day trip from San Francisco was a coastal loop journey from Fort Point at the Golden Gate, to Seal Rock, along the hard sandy beach to Ocean House, and back downtown.

#6-Sutro Had Seal Rock Designated As A Wildlife Preserve

Sutro built his dream overlooking the Pacific Ocean where the rugged Point Lobos coastline bends south at Seal Rocks. Pinnipeds have gathered on the rocks long before humans arrived. Thanks to Sutro’s efforts, the U.S. Congress designated the area as a wild life preserve in 1897.

Sutro was also an early environmentalist. He protected the seals off nearby Point Lobos and successfully lobbied Congress to pass a law putting the area in trust for the American people.” (American Jerusalem)

#7-Annette Kellermann’s Trendsetting Swimsuits Were Featured

American bathing suit designs during the Victorian era were influenced by ideals of modesty. When women first started going into the water they wore full dresses with black stockings and bloomers, sometimes even sewing weights into the bottom of their dresses so their skirts would not accidentally fly up and expose too much.

Kellermann Swimsuits shunned pantaloons at a time when women’s bathing costumes included a dress over bloomers, shoes and a hat. Champion swimmer and performer, Annette Kellermann shattered social norms.

An evangelist for serious swimming as the key to lifelong health and beauty, she wore the typical men’s two-piece costume with a tee shirt and fitted shorts to the knee, give or take a few inches. Eventually she streamlined that to her famous one-piece Kellermann swimsuits.

#8-Entertainment Was Paramount

Sutro Baths held countless events in its early years. Adolph Sutro and his master of amusements, Colonel T.P. Robinson, hosted May Day festivals, high dive contests, swimming contests, orchestral performances, dancers, choirs, and magicians.

Many visitors to Sutro Baths did not swim. Instead they watched swimmers, contests, and performances from the stands. As Sutro envisioned, there was something for everyone.

#9-A Civil Rights Suit Was Filed On July 4, 1897

Colored San Francisco resident John Harris visited the newly opened Sutro Baths with a group of white friends. According to National Park Service, After paying the 25 cent entrance fee which covered entry, a bathing suit and access to the changing room, Harris alone among his friends was denied entry to the pools.

“The trial took place in February, proceeded over by a jury and a judge. The case and Mr. Harris were ridiculed in editorials in San Francisco’s newspapers. In the courtroom, there was an air of indifference to the matter, a sense that the trial was something of a farce.”(NPS)

The jury even asked the judge if they could ignore the law, meaning the Dibble Act. When the judge said they could not, the jury found in favor of Mr. Harris. Although he sought $10,000 in damages he was awarded $100.

The San Francisco Call reported on the trial on August 2, 1897. (Library of Congress)

The Brown v. Board of Education  decision of 1954 declared the “separate but equal” doctrine unconstitutional, making segregation in public places illegal.

# 10-People Attempted To Harness The Power Of The Ocean Since 1888

Studying history can help us envision our future. The first known attempts at harnessing the power of the ocean was in 1799 with a patent filed in Paris. Hundreds more patents were filed through the 1800s.

  1. Hunt Stern built his wave motor in 1886 just a few hundred yards north of the Cliff House on land leased from Adolph Sutro. The ocean claimed it in 1891, the same year that Henry P Holland build his wave machine in the same location. Several more were built over the years.

A description of the first wave motor was published in the San Francisco Examiner in 1891:

That (machine) operated in a wiggle-waggle sort of way depending on the pushing power of the waves against a broad surface, something like the centerboard of a flat-bottomed vessel.”

According to the National Park Service, none of the wave motors proved successful as a source of power. However, the ideas of these pioneering inventors have not been forgotten, and research into wave-generated energy for the San Francisco Bay area continues today. (NPS)

Special Thanks to the people at OpenSFHistory.org and Cliff House Project ( A program of Western Neighborhoods Project) who built a time machine to San Francisco’s rich past.

Racing Nellie Bly
Victorian Secrets From Footnotes In History
Know The Past To Invent The Future

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up for the Racing Nellie Bly Newsletter

Subscribe for Updates: