Silverado’s Hidden Gem – The Swimming Pool

Looking at this picture you might see a few happy horses under a large majestic old Oak tree. Do you see the old swimming pool? Can you hear the splashes of water when you walk down Hazel Bell near Silverado Canyon Road? No? Well, let’s go back a couple of years, no, a bit farther back….

It is a time when a little girl first moved into the canyon when she was 7 years old. This is a story of a girl who would visit her grandparents, Fanny and Roy Grundy. They owned the local bar/grocery store/dance hall. It was located where Silverado Proper is now located. The same site where our Canyon Market resides today. It was a slower-paced time when kids walked where they wanted to go and had fun using the swinging bridge to cross the creek from their house. This is the same time frame that a little girl went to the local Silverado Elementary School and was taught her lessons by Mr. and Mrs. Harbottle. In these days people would listen to the radio for entertainment. One day our little canyon girl and her friend sat outside of a neighbor’s house and listened to the Joe Lewis fight. Boy did she ever want him to win! She was not sure why, she just remembered that she sure wanted him to win.

If you have not guessed it by now, the time is in the 1930’s, when Fran first made her home in Silverado Canyon, initially staying at her grandparent’s house, and then later moving in with her parents in Ladd Canyon.

One very hot day, little Fran walked all the way down from Ladd Canyon to the corner of Silverado Canyon and Hazel Bell, quietly entered the Rome Shady Brook Hotel, and paid 10 cents to swim in the hotel swimming pool. She remembered back to that day and how the inside of the hotel was “creepy” to her. Not scary, just filled with strangers; people she did not know. She paid her 10 cents and went swimming in the pool that was filled with mineral water which was warm to the touch.

The Rome Shady Brook Hotel was home to many guests of Silverado Canyon over the years. A health resort for those who needed to rest. History tells us that some of these guests had T.B. and some were afflicted with asthma.  Some of the people just need to escape their hometown, mostly from Long Beach. People came to this beautiful area to soak up the healthy air due to the higher altitude and drink the waters of the canyon.

So the next time you come by the horse corral to visit Ranger, Kate, and Roxy, look for the rock wall and foundation that are still there today. These are remnants from the hotel swimming pool and the end of an era.  What can 10 cents buy you now?

Disclaimer: Please forgive any slight inconsistencies in this story. We are relying on the memories of people who have lived in the canyon for many years, combined with my research. Sometimes we can have our memories mingled with actual events. Photograph by Vivi Wyngaarden Photography