The lost bathhouses of La Jolla Cove and how they influenced coastal tourism during La Jolla’s younger years.
La Jolla’s bathhouses are a long-forgotten staple of early coastal tourism, yet photos of them frequently appear in businesses around town, harkening back to a day when a swim in the sea and a seaside bath went hand in hand. Dip your toes into the history of the rise and fall of the bathhouses at La Jolla Cove.
Bathing at the beach: La Jolla’s gilded age of seaside recreation
The late 1800s, the same era in which La Jolla rose as a community of San Diego, saw the upward success of public bathhouses, particularly in coastal towns.
Commercial bathhouses along the San Diego shoreline offered both hygiene and leisure to people, in an era predating widespread indoor plumbing, when the standard for personal cleanliness was a weekly bath.
A visit to these wooden structures, used by tourists and residents, meant changing into wool swimsuits, wading into the ocean and then bathing in a fresh water tub.
Bathhouses also offered meals and social events, with awnings for shade and ample space to sit on blankets and relax seaside.
Nowhere was this more in vogue than in La Jolla, where “life in La Jolla centered around the beach and primarily at The Cove,” according to Pat Schaelchlin’s book “La Jolla: The Story of a Community.”
The first La Jolla bathhouse: A coastal icon lost to flames
In a symbiotic gesture meant to bring more folks to the coast, the railroad company built the first La Jolla bathhouse in 1894, a small building catering to the all-day visitor, leased by FT Scripps, younger brother of the renowned Ellen Browning Scripps, and Hugh McKie.
The bathhouse was an immediate tourist attraction, drawing many to La Jolla as the community grew and expanded.
In 1904, the bathhouse received a new roof and coat of paint and “looked much improved,” according to Howard Randolph in “La Jolla Year by Year.”
La Jolla’s bathhouse wasn’t meant to stand much longer, however. On Aug 28, 1905, a gasoline stove exploded while the manager was cooking, Schaelchlin wrote, and within a half hour, the bathhouse had burned to the ground.
The second bathhouse and the rise of entertainment at La Jolla Cove
A second La Jolla bathhouse was constructed in place of the first, opening in spring 1906.
“Whereas the old building had been small and inoffensive – though no doubt inadequate – the new building was very large and imposing,” Randolph wrote.
The new bathhouse, a large two story Craftsman structure, was indeed expanded, not only in size but also in offerings, with a bowling alley, auditorium, swimming pool (later floored and transformed into a dance hall), cafe overlooking The Cove, and covered veranda, along with large advertisements decorating the ocean elevation.
La Jolla Historical Society
And true to its aim, the bathhouse had 180 dressing rooms and lockers.
Scripps and McKie operated the new bathhouse on a lease basis and periodically repaired it.
Shortly after the bathhouse construction, a small wooden staircase was built immediately east of the building and provided access to The Cove, previously accessed via a sloping path from Coast Boulevard.
The bathhouse was “undoubtedly the pride and joy of The Village when it was new,” Randolph wrote, but it soon fell into disrepair, with the Chamber of Commerce in 1920 calling “the old shack … a disgrace to any town.”
By 1922, “the place was not only an eyesore, but also most unsanitary,” Randolph wrote, which led to the Park Board refusing to renew the lease.
A third bathhouse was briefly considered to replace the second, with plans approved but concerns raised that the bathhouse, proposed on a city park and beach, would adversely impact both spaces, according to Schaelchlin.
La Jollans worried improving the already crowded beach would result in more tourists and less availability for residents; and the smoke from the furnace and boiler would pollute The Village.
The plans proceeded no further, and the dilapidated bathhouse was torn down in 1924 and 1925, with no more talk of another.
What remains today: Traces of the bathhouse legacy at La Jolla Cove
Though nothing remains of the physical bathhouses, droves of tourists still flock to La Jolla Cove for a dip, with residents and visitors turning to the coastline for recreation as they always have.
And with recreational activity comes recreational relaxation, in the form of waterfront hotels, restaurants and more, all offering those in La Jolla countless ways to enjoy the ocean with or without getting wet, proving that La Jolla’s value is always anchored in the sea.
