I had run across an Austin.com article 'Absolutely Everything You Need to Know About Barton Springs Pool'. It has a lot of great info on it, that you may or may not know. Barton Springs Pool is filled with natural spring water that's a consistent 68-70 degrees year around. The hours and days it's open, which varies depending on the seasons, and the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clicking here gets you the info needed to make a day of it at Barton Springs Pool. 'Tis the season coming soon to keep cool in ATX.
The short version history of Barton Springs Pool touches on the area as sacred land used for rituals by the Tonkawa Native American tribe that lived in what is Austin now. Or in the 1700s, the Spaniards finding the source of water. Once the city of Austin was founded by William 'Uncle Billy ' Barton, he named the springs after his 3 daughters Pathenia, Eliza and Zenobia in 1837. Not a very catchy name, so Barton Springs ended up sticking. It ended up belonging to the city once Andrew Jackson Zilker, the last private owner, deeded the springs to Austin in 1918. This is when Barton Springs Pool with Zilker Park started to take shape.
This sparked my interest and got me cruising to Barton Springs Conservancy twitter page. It was here I found this awesome Barton Springs Pool historical gem. A short documentary created by Living Springs called 'A Reflecting Pool'. It's told in the voices of those who grew up enjoying Barton Springs as a child, and how it shaped and defined their lives working and raising a family in Austin. A story told in many points of view about how Barton Springs touched their lives. Showing how the springs complex social history turned Austin into a city open for all starting with Barton Springs Pool in the early '60s.
