Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

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Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by Doug Papagni » Sat Aug 21, 2021 10:57 am

Born and raised in Fresno on the Golden West Side! Swam at Weymouth my entire youth. Started in the kiddie pool diving for pennies then spending them on candy as soon as we could run to the snack bar 🤣. Graduated to the big pool on the other side of the wall. Always so much fun doing hand stands and having chicken fights with friends and family. Moved to the little slide then the BIG slide in the deep (12 foot) end. In my teens the low and high boards were where you could try to show off for the ladies!!! Still being out shined by my cousin Steve who would dive off the tower, I worked my way up to the top one terrifying level at a time😳. Thank god for the 12 foot deep end and the 60 foot width. Does anyone remember hanging around the deep end where the water was pumped into the pool when we splashed so much water out they had to pump more water in? I was there one day with buddies when on came the water and off went my trunks 🥴🤣. Great memories and really loved that place.

Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by Lost Fresno » Thu Feb 08, 2018 2:13 pm

Hello Chris and such an honor to have you share some of your memories here. I remember as a 7 year old kid, looking up at the that high dive and being horrified. The very last thing that I would of done in the world, would of been to climb up that thing. Kudos to you for your bravery sir.

About 5 years ago we suddenly got a surge of visitors to this site, all because word of mouth started to circulate that a web site was talking about all the old Fresno pools. It is a most powerful subject for all those who remember them. And what a wonderful memory and experience for all those who swam in the great long lost pools of Fresno.

Chris, if you have any personal photos to share of your family's pool, we would love to see them!

Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by CHRIS Weymouth » Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:18 pm

My name is Chris Weymouth, and I’m the son of E.E. “Al” Weymouth Jr. and grandson of E.E. Weymouth Sr., the owner/builder of Weymouth’s Swimming Pool, out on Whitesbridge Rd by Chandler Air Field in Southwest Fresno.

From reading some of the comments above, it is true the pool was built in the 30’s when public pools were a new thing and didn’t have modern filteration systems. It was drained 2 or 3 times a week, scrubbed down from end to end and top to bottom, then filled up again overnight. It was highly chlorinated and tested numerous times a day to make sure the water was safe! When you consider the pool was 60’ wide by 120’long and up to 12’ deep, that was a lot of water! When you think about doing this 3 times a week, for 30+yrs, that’s a lot of water! The water flooded the park and trees around the pool and then soaked down and refilled the water table below ground! My dad said the water table was just 10-15 feet below ground at the time! They had some big pumps with two 12-14” pipes feeding the water back into the pool! This would fill up overnight and like my brother WilleO said above, that water was ice cold the next morning!

I grew up in the pool and swam there for 15 yrs and never heard of any water problems. Weymouth’s was the 1st concrete public swimming pool in town and was the place to go swimming in the early days! When my dad and Uncle Thornton were on the Fresno High Swimming/Diving team, my Gramdma Beth didn’t want the kids swimming in the irrigation canals, so talked my Grandpa into building a pool. He went down to the permit office to get a permit, and a gentlemen by the name of Al White, who had been an Olympic Diving Champion, was working there. He talked my Grandpa into building a public pool and “letting the public pay for it”. I was always amazed at how many people knew my dad, and it was just because they all grew up swimming at the pool! My whole life, I’ve also run into people, that asked if I was related to the pool, and said they used to swim there. I was always proud to say, “Yes, that was my Grandparents pool”. My Grandma Beth was like a Mom to all the kids who swam there and was named Fresno County’s Mother of the Year at one time (not sure of the year, some time in the 50’s I think).

In one of the pictures, you see some kids diving off the top level of the diving platform, and believe me that was HIGH! The diving platform had three levels, about 10’, 20’ and 30’ high, and was about 15’-20’ deep or long. You had to yell at the kids on the diving boards and slide at the end of the pool and let them know you were jumping off so you wouldn’t land on someone in the water. The pool was 60’ wide and we would shove off the back rail of the top platform and run as fast as we could and fly about 45’-50’ across the pool before we ever hit the water! Boy, that was fun! I had to work my way up to diving off the top level, and believe me, it would make your wrists sore landing hand first. It’s a good thing my parents had a station wagon, because we’d fill it up with all the neighborhood kids and go swimming all day For FREE! For some reason I was real popular around the neighborhood!

Sadly, the pool closed in the early 60’s. My grandparents continued to operate Weymouth Pest Control for several more years, then retired and moved to Southern CA. They sold the business to Dick Smith, my grandfathers long time business partner, who grew up at the pool, being a life guard. The Pest Control Company is still in operation and owned by Dick’s family and run by his son Brad. If you’re in need of a good pest control company, I highly recommend them!

I no longer live in Fresno, having moved to the Denver, CO area in 2012, to help raise my grandkids. I now also have my son, his wife and granddaughter still living in Fresno!

I’ll always remember the great times we had growing up in Fresno and remember those great times at the pool with our childhood friends!
Any questions, I’d be glad to respond!
Thanks...Chris

Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by Lost Fresno » Sat Aug 26, 2017 8:33 am

As mentioned upthread, the older public pools were drained three times a week. In the ad below, a public service announcement was run to try in calm the public's concern about health hazards in those pools. The "CONTRARY TO RUMORS BEING CIRCULATED" lead in line suggests that there was general concern amongst the general public. Or, could it has been a smear campaign to draw away buisnness?
Attachments
The_Fresno_Bee_The_Republican_Sat__Jun_16__1934_.jpg
The Fresno Bee - June 16, 1935 - Click to enlarge

Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by Clyde IV » Sun Jan 11, 2015 11:15 am

Here is part Weymouth at the moment. It is still there and the pool is now where highway 180 is now. It was filled in and is not visible anymore. But the house and office are still there, not sure when they were built but they are still standing and the Pest Control and Tree Care Business is still there operating to this day.

The picture below is of the large fountain that would be running back then, of course it isn't running anymore but it is still standing. The place has many tree's and is home to many birds and lizard's and bug's. It is being maintained and keeping green and full of trees for all the wildlife that still hangs out. There are quail, doves, a few families of Hawks large and small, tree squirrels, humming birds and all sorts of other little creatures.

Also if there are any more pictures of Weymouth Pool or even the Pest Control and Tree care from the past, Brad the current owner would love to see them and have them posted up at the office. I myself work there for Brad and it is a lot of fun learning about Fresno. He also likes the pictures posted above, would it be ok if we used them to print up and post in the office?
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IMG_20140122_145757.jpg
IMG_20140122_145757.jpg (109.37 KiB) Viewed 20409 times

Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by collegeavekid » Tue Feb 18, 2014 5:29 pm

As a teen I would do back flips off the third tower, for a bag of Fretos. Money was hard to come by. Always put on a tee shirt for the times I landed on my back.
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weymouth 1934.jpeg
Click to enlarge

Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by sjvalleydave » Fri Oct 11, 2013 2:28 pm

I don't think this had anything to do with the Italian Amusement Park..

Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by Drakonyx » Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:29 pm

Was this part of the Italian Entertainment Park or something separate?

Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by Big J » Wed Feb 15, 2012 10:07 am

Good lord that's high.
Attachments
The_Fresno_Bee_The_Republican_Tue__Jul_23__1935_.jpg
The Fresno Bee - July 23, 1953 - Click to enlarge

Re: Weymouth Swimming Pool near Chandler Field

by WillieO » Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:57 pm

Another photo from the 50's. The tower was about 30' and that first guy is either trying to impress his girl or is just plain stupid!
Attachments
Weymouth Pool.jpg
Click to enlarge

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