At The Athenaeum: Peirce Island Pool took a while to make a splash

With the opening of Portsmouth's city pool just around the corner on June 25, it seemed like a good time to dive into the Athenaeum archives and come up with some photographic treasures.

An image for the March/April 1923 First National Bank Centennial Calendar shows Peirce Island. A caption notes the city of Portsmouth intended to convert the island into a public playground.

On July 23, 1923, Portsmouth announced it would purchase Peirce Island, and the Portsmouth Herald reported "the possibility of a big swimming pool may be one of the first realities."

At the time, the newspaper speculated the park would be named Anniversary Park in commemoration of the then-300th anniversary of the city.

That didn't happen. Of course, next year is the Portsmouth 400th celebration, so there's still time.

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Later that year, a Philadelphia firm wanted to lease the island to install a big amusement park, which would surpass Hampton, Salisbury, and Old Orchard beaches. That didn't happen either.

By the end of 1924, the first bridge to Peirce Island was completed from the foot of Gates Street. But what about the pool? Apparently, the discussion dragged on for at least a decade.

And even when construction finally started, it seemed to land like a belly flop. In February 1933, the Planning Board and the Public Works Department announced the main project that year would be the swimming pool as "47 men were given work in two shifts" to excavate the site.

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The city stated the project was given priority because the public long wanted it, and the work would be largely labor "with comparatively little necessary expenditure for material."

Using federal funds from the Emergency Relief Administration in 1934, 70 men were hired to "bring the job to completion." The pool was scheduled to open on July 15. It did not.

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According to Portsmouth resident Harold W. Curtis, the pool opened for four days that year. In a letter to the editor in May 1935, Curtis commented that the "nearly completed" pool was awaiting the city to put the "finishing touches" including a "proper bath-house, with facilities for checking clothing, dressing rooms, showers and toilets, and a walk bordering the pool to prevent tracking mud and dirt into the water."

Curtis implored the city to hurry before the summer season.

In early February 1936, an item in the Herald headlined, "We're Wondering," asked "What's the 1935 opening date of the Peirce Island swimming pool?" Given the number of times the newspaper pondered when the pool would open, was the 1935 date a typo or tongue-in-cheek?

Through all the delays, the pool opened for the season on July 25, 1936, with 250 children in attendance, and it closed on Aug. 31 of that year. The city website for the history for Peirce Island states the "outdoor pool was constructed in 1937" so perhaps the pool was finally completed for a full season in 1937.

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The 1923 calendar image was captured from the shore of the Portsmouth Yacht Club (the building barely seen to the right) in the approximate location of the second (and current) Prescott Memorial Bridge.

It's unclear when the house, barn and other structures on the island were demolished.

Another image shows Alvah C. Card sitting by the newly-built pool's diving board on June 5, 1938, soon after it was built. The photo comes from the Card Family Album.

There is also a Card image showing the pool as it was in 1959 from the Alvah C. Card Slide Collection. An avid photographer, Card (1913-1988) worked for the Portsmouth Public Works Department for 40 years. He also volunteered with the city's fire department for 24 years.

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, he lived with his family in the South End at 466 Marcy St. Alvah and his brother, Wallace, were also both Athenaeum Proprietors. Alvah had purchased Share No. 11 in 1951, and it was transferred to Wallace after Alvah's passing in 1988.

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Also in the Athenaeum's collection is a 1962 color postcard attributed to Don Bristol showing the pool in all its summer glory.

Commercial photographer Douglas Armsden, whose family has donated over 20,000 images to the Athenaeum over the last several years, captured two swimmers in mid-dive at the pool in the late 1960s.

In 1977, the pool needed repairs and closed for the season. Newspaper articles discussed the options of repairing or replacing the pool. In 1978, the pool remained closed as work was done to repair the existing pool.

In July 2003, the pool was rededicated after receiving upgrades including a new water-filtration system, concrete apron around the pool, chain link fence, chairs, umbrellas, tables, and nearby sand volleyball court. The pool was more environmentally friendly as discharged water now went into the city sewer pipes rather than directly into the nearby Piscataqua River.

City officials made a pitch in 2019 to construct a new bathhouse. But a December 2020 City Council vote did not include that project. Money was OK'd to pay for a new pool liner, filter building, gutter system and concrete renovations.

"As of this moment, the bathhouse renovation is on hold," pool officials said in response to a recent email query.

James Smith is the photographic collections manager at the Portsmouth Athenaeum, a membership library and museum founded in 1817. Located at 9 Market Square, the Athenaeum is open by appointment Tuesday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m. For more information or to schedule a visit, call 603-431-2538 or email info@portsmouthathenaeum.org.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: History of Portsmouth NH Peirce Island Pool