A Giant Public Pool Used to Be at East End Beach in Portland

There are a lot of things in Portland's past that many people living in Maine's largest city probably never knew used to be here. For example, roads still have trolley tracks buried in the pavement and the ruins of a park that had amusement rides are in the Riverton neighborhood.

One of Portland's forgotten landmarks used to sit at East End Beach until the early 1980s. A huge public pool was near the current East End Boat launch and parking area.

The Portland Maine Encyclopedia of the 1960s, 70s, & 80s has a photo of this giant pool at the ocean taken in 1975.

And here's a Google Streetview of what this area looks like today from as close to the same angle as we can get.

The pool was filled in in the early 80s so it's still there under the pavement. Comments on the photo by group members say it was closed after a drowning incident. While the pool was drained in the process of being shut down, several Portland kids used it for skateboarding.