Swimming Pool

Swimming Pool. Fun in the Sun. , In 1910, Thomas Edison began construction on a swimming pool and a small bath house. , When finished, it became the first residential pool in Lee County. Edison hired a local company, W. R. Wallace and Company, to construct a 20-foot-wide by 50-foot-long pool. It was made out of concrete, 1/2-inch twisted iron bar, and woven wire. The pool was 7-1/2 feet at its deepest and cost $1,110.52. Its design copied that of the Royal Palm Hotel pool downtown and served as one of the family's favorite spots within the grounds of Seminole Lodge. , , Initially, a wooden fence surrounded three sides of the pool, providing privacy from other parts of the property as well as from curiosity-seekers along what is now McGregor Boulevard. The pool's west side offered gorgeous views of the Caloosahatchee River during the warm spring days. , , Edison's pool was supplied with water from the artesian well on the east side of McGregor Boulevard. Although the cistern would be built next to the pool in 1919, the pool continued to be supplied with well water. , , In 1928, Henry Ford financed the alterations and additions to the pool complex in exchange for moving Edison's original Fort Myers laboratory to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. Local architect Nat Gaillard Walker remodeled this area by adding an elevated concrete walkway with a covered seating area, a pipe framing rail fence, a tea house arbor with a small fountain, Italianate tile flooring, and a full bath house containing a shower and multiple dressing rooms. A two-story diving platform with spring boards was built at the north end of the pool. Hurricane lan destroyed the rebuilt platform in September, 2022. , , [Insert:] , Madeleine Edison wrote to her mother Mina on March 10, 1947, "We did enjoy the lazy days at Fort Myers , I couldn't have borne it not to see it again as it always was , and I'm glad it was warm enough for a farewell swim in the pool!" , , [Insert:] , Left: Mina Edison sits under the pergola of the Tea House with her daughter-in-law Carolyn Edison, 1931. , Right: Estates caretaker James Anderson enjoying the pool with two unknown women, circa 1925. , A view of the pool with a covered area and walkways. The Bath House (at left) consisted of five small rooms. The north room is noted on the drawings as a "Drying room." The remaining space was divided into four rooms: a shower and three dressing rooms with bench seats. , , [Insert:] , Inset: The family and their guests enjoyed this view through banana trees towards the Caloosahatchee River when in the pool. The dock, with boat houses, can be seen to the left. , , Fast Facts: , During the early 1900's, Edison was involved in the development of poured-cement houses. The Fort Myers Press noted this connection, reporting that concrete for the pool would be "poured into the forms after the manner of Mr. Edison's famous concrete house system."