Indianapolis’s first public swimming pool 1912. Made from a gigantic repurposed gasoline holder/tank.

The Indianapolis Gaslight & Coke Company fell to disrepair; the 1898 Sanborn Map (updated to 1915) labels the company as “not in operation, Oct. 12, 1909” and adds “BUILDINGS ALL VACANT & IN BAD REPAIR.” Creatively, however, one of the company’s gas holders was converted into a swimming pool—Indianapolis’ first, in fact. The swimming pool appears on both the 1915 Sanborn and the 1916 Baist maps, and was even photographed by the W. H. Bass Photo Company. The Indiana Historical Society guards the Aug. 8, 1912, photo of the city’s first swimming pool. https://historicindianapolis.com/sunday-prayers-paving-over-the-past/