Let’s call the Preservation Alliance’s 2023-24 appeal postcard our swimsuit edition

Every year, the Alliance chooses a photograph that captures the spirit of our work around New Hampshire. In years past, we have highlighted covered bridges, town clocks, barns, and scenic curtains. This year, we wanted to celebrate a return to post-pandemic normalcy and showcase a project that epitomizes community volunteerism.

The “Bathing Beauties” atop the Bethlehem pool’s bathhouse are a fixture in the White Mountains town. The painted women likely date to 1955, when the town commissioned resident painter Ed Ott, who had completed similar plywood cutouts at the former Baker Brook Barefoot Boy Restaurant. Originally, there were several cut-outs at the pool, including one at the Main Street entrance. By the 1980s, though, the ladies had disappeared.

In 2013 an original was found in the attic of the former restaurant and locals teamed up to rehome her to the town pool and recreate her friend. Since their return in 2014, the “Bathing Beauties” are stored for each winter season by volunteers.

The pool is decades older than its most recognizable inhabitants. Proposals to create a municipal swimming spot to complement Bethlehem’s many resort accommodations started around 1920. In 1929, engineers dammed Barret Brook behind the town office/library building, added a sandy beach, and created Sunset Lake. This first pool even had lights for evening swimming and canoeing!

When the Hurricane of 1938 washed out Sunset Lake’s dam, the town opted to work with the WPA to construct a concrete pool for $20,000. This new pool was joined by the bathhouse in 1940 and a comfort station (the “Green House”), which was donated to the town by Dr. Jeffries.

Starting in the 1980s, the pool began to show its age: filter systems, leaking concrete, aging motors, and ADA concerns threatened to close the popular destination. Band-aid fixes worked until 2003 when the pool was closed for deficiencies. It remained closed until 2011, when a committee was formed to address its needs.

Volunteers then spent years fixing cracks, re-pouring walls, hand digging trenches for new piping, installing a new roof on the bathhouse, and raising money. In total, $72,000 was raised and 119 volunteers made the work happen – worth $130,000. The pool re-opened in 2014.

In 2016 the pool was included as a contributing resource to the town’s eligible National Register Historic District, surveyed as part of the Northern Pass project.

After the pandemic closed the pool temporarily, the lifeguards are back and the pool is once again used for swim lessons and general recreation – all watched over by the Bathing Beauties.

Our thanks to Clare Brown of the Bethlehem Heritage Center, for providing the history of this fun resource.