Volume 7 , Issue 13

McGill Bros. Swimming Pool

For those of you have just come onboard... Bill and Jim McGill built and ran the first swimming pool in downtown Alva (Oklahoma) in the early 1900s. We are not sure when this photo was taken. It is a picture of the "McGill Bros. Swimming Pool that was located behind and to the west of McGill Bros. Furniture Store. In the background you can see an add for Central National Bank, St. Nicholas Hotel, McGill Bros. Furniture, W. W. Starr. The young boys swimming in the pool with the grownups standing in background. The white haired, tall fellow towards the back looks to be my grandfather (Wm. J. "Will" McGill). Checkout this URL for more memories of McGill's Swimming Pool in downtown Alva, in NW Oklahoma. This URL will show you a swimming ticket that was used at one time - McGill Swimming Ticket - $6.

Poem - McGill's Swimming Pool - by Wm. J. "Bill" McGill
McGill Bros Swimming Pool
At the close of sultry summer day
Join the crowds that wend their way
To plunge in water fresh and cool
At McGills' most popular Swimming Pool.
And just a few steps from the door
You'll find their Famous Furniture Store.
There, too, your needs will be supplied,
And all your tastes be satisfied.
McGill Brothers, S.W. Cor. Square

The swimming pool was not behind the furniture store. It was west of the store. It was next to the "DeGreer" building. The "Old Blue Front furniture store" that Jim first started was west of the furniture store that later followed. Bill was playing baseball and as he traveled around with the ball team he would buy furniture and ship it back to Alva. We sometimes wonder if Bill knew he was suppose to sleep in a 24 hour period. Our cousin, Jack Erskine, says that the swimming pool was the first in Alva but another person remembers swimming in a pool back of the college. When water became to high you needed to drain the pool every week. The pool was not making money. So... Jim and Bill offered it to the city of Alva to run and they said they could not afford to run it either. Gene (McGill) and Jack (Erskine) used to take turns running the swimming pool. During those times kids would slip in at night and swim and sometimes in the nude -- So... Gene and Jack would sleep over at the pool and chase them out. They also would dive off of the two story DeGeer building into the pool through electric wires which could have been really bad. We have heard stories about Gene diving from the roof of the building on the west side of the pool.   |  View or Add Comments (1 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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