Photo Gallery (U.S. National Park Service)

Sutro Baths was an indoor swimming complex, including a museum and concert hall, opened in the late 1800s by entrepreneur Adolph Sutro. It burned down in 1966.

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Sutro Baths and Cliff House postcard.

Sutro Baths and Cliff House po...

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Sutro Baths tram longshot with coastline and baths in background, 1951.

tram longshot, Sutro Baths, 19...

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Aerial of the third Cliff House and the Sutro Baths. A shipwreck can also be seen in the upper left corner of the picture. Date Unknown.

Aerial of the third Cliff Hous...

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“From Cliff House looking north, October 25, 1890.” Future site of Sutro Baths with Lands End in the distance.

Looking north from Cliff House...

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Adolph Sutro conceived of his baths as a ‘palace for the people’ where patrons could bathe in heated swimming tanks, examine specimens in his self-styled museum, or simply promenade along spacious walkways overlooking the pools. The vast building completely filled a pocket beach north of the Cliff House formerly known as Niaid Cove, and was built on several levels descending from street level down to the water. This view shows the Baths around the time of their grand opening in 1897. Note the construction debris still on the ground at right. Sutro originally envisioned a winding driveway leading down to a dome-covered entrance (center left) that would serve as a grand entry way for upper-crust patrons arriving by carriage. By contrast, pedestrians arriving by public transportation would enter at a “Greek Temple” building located on Point Lobos Blvd. Like many of Sutro’s plans for the Baths, though, the carriage turnaround was never constructed. Instead, the Greek Temple (visible at upper left) became the sing

Sutro Baths, circa 1897, looki...

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The statistics of Sutro Baths are impressive today, but by 1890s standards they must have been staggering: six heated saltwater pools, an ice-cold freshwater pool, 517 dressing rooms, three restaurants, and a capacity of 25,000 patrons at a time. The sprawling structure consumed 3,500,000 tons of lumber, 270,000 cubic feet of concrete, and 600 tons of iron beams and columns. The entire structure was covered by a three acre glass canopy, much of it tinted in colors so rainbow patterns would dance over the swimmers and spectators below. The large pool in the foreground of this old postcard wasn’t intended for swimming. Instead, it was a settling pond for wave water captured in a nearby catch basin. The seawater was filtered and heated in the powerhouse at left before being pumped into the swimming pools beneath the glass arches. It was claimed that wave action could fill the bathing tanks in just one hour. The Cliff House beyond the Baths is the 1909 structure erected by Adolph’s daughter, Dr. Emma Sutro Merrit

Sutro Baths exterior from nort...

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Directly below the Baths’ arched glass ceiling was an L-shaped Promenade that surrounded the pools on two sides. On this level, swimmers headed for the tanks below would pick up a towel, a swim suit and a key to one of the 500+ tiny dressing rooms located on the next level down. Non-swimmers could explore a variety of exhibits that lined the Promenade level, including hundreds of stuffed animals and innumerable geologic specimens collected by Adolph Sutro during his travels. As visible in this photo, Sutro was also fond of indoor plants, which thrived in the moist heated air drifting up from the bathing tanks. In this view, dating to around 1900, the pools are barely visible at left center behind the railing. Between the Promenade and the pools themselves were tiers of bleacher seats capable of holding 3,700 spectators.

Sutro Baths Promenade

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In 1937 the Sutro heirs added an ice skating rink at the Baths, reflecting the family’s attempts to keep the aging complex financially viable by offering new and improved attractions. The rink was built by taking a portion of the largest swimming pool, draining it, and erecting a refrigerated skating rink in its place. A plywood wall extending to the top of the arched ceiling separated the ice skaters from bathers cavorting in heated pools only a few feet away. This photo, taken around 1950, shows the skating rink at lower left and a portion of the spectator bleachers dating back to the original Baths’ construction. The reason the area over the ice is so dark is that the glass ceiling overhead had to be painted opaque to prevent the ice from melting.

Sutro Baths skating rink, circ...

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Originally, swimmers at Sutro Baths were prohibited from bringing their own suits. Instead, they were required to rent one of the establishment’s scratchy woolen “bathing costumes.” This was done for sanitation reasons, since the loaner swim suits could be laundered and bleached after each use. At some point this practice changed, though, as evidenced by this photograph of bathers taken sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s. In this view, bathing caps for women seem to have been the only requirement. At upper right, a concession stand with a log cabin exterior has attracted a small crowd. It was named, appropriately, the “Dive Inn.” The fun wouldn’t last much longer. In September 1952, the Whitney Brothers purchased Sutro Baths and closed the pools less than a year later.

Sutro Baths recreation area, c...

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Sutro Baths entrance with bay in background, c. 1930s.

Sutro Bath entrance, c. 1930s

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Sutro Baths tram midrange shot, 1951.

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Sutro Baths tram close-up shot, 1951

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Sutro Baths interior stained glass sash windows, c. 1950s.

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“Roof of Sutro Baths, 1943”

“Roof of Sutro Baths, 1943”

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Sutro Baths exterior, c. 1958.

Sutro Baths exterior, c. 1958

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Sutro Baths interior showing changing room entrances, 1943.

Sutro Baths changing rooms, 19...

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Sutro Baths stained windows through trees, 1943.

Sutro Baths stained windows th...

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Sutro Baths interior showing swimmers, pools, and roof arch, c. 1940.

Sutro Baths interior, c. 1940s

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Firefighters hosing down Sutro Baths during fire, 1966.

Firefighters hosing down Sutro...

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Sutro Baths burning, 1966.

Sutro Baths burning, 1966

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