Mysterious Bluffton: Swimming pool in the Riley
By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com
Imagine a mysterious Bluffton location partially under water. Stand near the entrance to Steinmetz Field. Turn toward Harmon Field. Take about a dozen steps toward the creek.
There you will discover the remnants of a dam. That dam backed up the creek, but not anymore. Instead, it simply creates a mysterious Bluffton location.
Today the dam is just an impediment in the stream. However, on the Harmon Field side of the stream stand the remains of a very well-constructed flagstone wall. The wall on the Steinmetz Field side lost its battle with nature years ago.
Why is there a dam? Why a flagstone wall? Who built these structures and when?
By our definition, Bluffton’s places of mystery involve unexplained human-constructed features on our otherwise familiar landscape. They exist today like the statues of Easter Island.
This partially underwater site fits our list.
To fully appreciate this site, imagine Bluffton one century ago when this was a pretty interesting place.
Here’s the story:
In the past century the village has operated five separate swimming pools. Don’t be disappointed if you can only identify two of these pools. Our mysterious site dates back to the late 1920s and 1930s. For almost 10 years this was Bluffton’s swimming pool.
Lifeguards included Carl Smucker, Evan Soash, Garfield Griffith, Maynard Coon and Bob Schaublin. This is according to Herb Conrad and Jean Szabo, who talked about the pool in an interview conducted in 1980.
The story continues HERE.
Stories Posted This Week
Saturday, January 25, 2025
Friday, January 24, 2025
- Pirate girls basketball wins at Lincolnview
- Elfrieda Ramseyer was a nurse
- Pirate swimmers 2nd at 6-team meet
- Hardin among next counties to implement Next Generation 9-1-1
- Dick Boehr sings in his 75th Bluffton Messiah
- BVHS corporate compliance officer receives national award
- Nominations being accepted for Jefferson Awards
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
- Pirate bowlers place 5th at Jack Hammill Invite
- Bluffton K-12 school cancelled on January 22
- Quarry Farm newsletter for Winter 2025
- Pirates host Military Appreciation Night on January 24
- Lots to show and tell about Bluffton history
- Bluffton Police calls for service report, Dec. 2024
- Cory-Rawson open enrollment for 2025-2026
- Cory-Rawson opens registration for preschool, begindergarten and kindergarten