When the Water Never Really Drains
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a full-blown horror movie addict and a sucker for anything paranormal. So, when my friends over at WaterShapes ran a piece on spooky swimming pools — and I noticed my name pop up as one of the cited resources — I couldn’t resist diving back into the deep end of the haunted pool world. It seemed only fitting to revisit the topic and share it here, just in time for Halloween, with my fellow pool pros, water geeks, and chlorine-scented thrill seekers.
Ask anyone who works around pools long enough — water remembers. Even when the pump’s been silent for decades, some basins still hum. Maybe it’s the acoustics of tile and hollow chambers, maybe it’s something stranger, but across the country, a handful of pools keep showing up in police logs, paranormal podcasts, and local newspaper archives. What follows is a tour through America’s most famous haunted swimming pools — and the engineering quirks that made them legends.
1️⃣ RMS Queen Mary — Long Beach, CA
Art Deco engineering and endless echoes
The Queen Mary’s first-class pool isn’t just some fancy ship amenity — it’s a time capsule that still breathes. Walking into that pool room was like stepping into a jump scare that hadn’t loaded yet. Everything was frozen in this weird, dramatic pause—old Art Deco tiles hanging on for dear life, bronze ladders that looked like they’d been held by ghosts with trust issues, and a ceiling covered in mother-of-pearl trying way too hard to stay relevant. Back in the day, this place flexed hard—500 gallons a minute blasting through copper pipes like it was the Atlantic’s gym. Now? It’s dry, creepy, and full of ghost gossip. And that silence? It’s shouting, “don’t turn around.” The Los Angeles Times and Long Beach Press-Telegram have both covered her story, usually when the ship gears up for its “Dark Harbor” events. But step inside that tiled tomb and you’ll understand — this isn’t just history. It’s haunted engineering at its finest.
2️⃣ The Rave / Eagles Ballroom — Milwaukee, WI
A concert hall with a ghost in the basement
Beneath the ornate ballroom lies a drained 1920s pool, tiled in cobalt and ringed by bleachers once meant for YMCA members. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel calls it “the city’s strangest greenroom,” citing musician accounts of splashes in a dry tank and unexplained drafts.
3️⃣ McCarren Park Pool — Brooklyn, NY
WPA massive, urban mythic
Reopened in 2012 after a $50 million overhaul, McCarren’s 37,000 sq ft basin pushes nearly 6,000 gpm through its rebuilt plant. The New York Times and Architect’s Newspaper celebrated its revival; locals still whisper about the drowned girl who “swims” after hours.
4️⃣ The Nat — Amarillo, TX
Route 66’s ghost oasis
Built 1922 as a 36×101 ft open-air pool, enclosed a year later for winter use. The Amarillo Globe-News has chronicled its transformation from municipal pool to dance hall, to antique mall — and the whispers of phantom swimmers that persist.
5️⃣ Baker Hotel — Mineral Wells, TX
Mineral water, marble decking, and a ghostly bride
Opened 1929, the Baker’s filtration drew from the city’s lithium-rich wells. Spanish Colonial architecture framed twin mineral pools whose water left crystalline deposits still visible today. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Texas Historical Commission records link the site’s spa heritage with decades of haunting reports.
6️⃣ Marquette University (Straz Tower) — Milwaukee, WI
A YMCA ghost in campus plumbing
This former YMCA natatorium — a basement tank with brass drain covers and cast-iron recirculation lines — now sits entombed beneath dorm rooms. The Marquette Wire and local press keep alive the story of “the boy still swimming laps.”
7️⃣ Twin Oaks Pool — Lancaster County, PA
Rural relic with a local legend
Concrete cracked, rails rusted, filtration long gone — yet residents near Ironville Pike still tell of the “Wandering Wight.” Regional papers and folklore archives treat Twin Oaks as a 1930s roadside resort turned ruin.
8️⃣ Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel — Los Angeles, CA
Where art met code and ghosts checked in
David Hockney’s 1988 painted pool mural transformed the Tropicana into an art piece — so vibrant it triggered code questions about swimmer visibility. The Los Angeles Times documented the standoff; guests later added tales of phantom bathers and Marilyn Monroe sightings.
9️⃣ Mineral Springs Hotel — Alton, IL
Spring-fed wellness and lingering voices
Once promoted as “Illinois’s largest indoor pool,” fed by a natural spring beneath the hotel. The Alton Telegraph and RiverBender News chronicle both its verified drownings and its current role in ghost tourism.
🔟 Rock Island YMCA — Rock Island, IL
47,000 GPH filtration — and a few extra occupants
An early-1900s YMCA design boasting a 47,000 gph sand-filter plant and a central concrete island dividing depths. Today, reborn as the Haunted Rock Island Roadhouse, it still echoes with locker doors and phantom splashes — per KWQC News and Quad-Cities Times coverage of its investigations.
Design Oddities & Plant Specs Behind the Haunts
| Pool | Notable Design Element | Period Filtration / Plant Note |
|---|---|---|
| Queen Mary | Mother-of-pearl ceiling, bronze ladders | Salt-to-fresh closed loop, copper piping |
| Rave / Eagles Ballroom | Sub-grade natatorium beneath concert hall | Early recirc cast-iron main; gravity feed |
| McCarren Park | 37k sq ft WPA design | 6,000 gpm dual-cell filtration |
| The Nat | Converted open-air to enclosed | Gravity overflow channel |
| Baker Hotel | Twin mineral pools | Natural spring intake / sand filtration |
| Marquette (YMCA) | Basement pool, low deck | Iron pipe gravity return |
| Twin Oaks | Outdoor roadside resort | Likely cartridge retrofit pre-closure |
| Roosevelt Hotel | Hockney mural | Modern DE filter w/ underwater lighting |
| Mineral Springs Hotel | Spring-fed indoor | Direct spring feed + sump return |
| Rock Island YMCA | Central divider | 47,000 gph sand filters (1910 catalogue) |
Pull Quote
“Water keeps its own archives. You can drain a pool, you can bleach the plaster, but you can’t scrub out a story.”
🧾 Sources & Further Reading
RMS Queen Mary – Long Beach, CA
- “The Queen Mary Is Not Haunted (But I Understand Why You Think She Is).” Skeptical Inquirer, 2013.
https://skepticalinquirer.org/2013/07/the-queen-mary-is-not-haunted-but-i-understand-why-you-think-she-is/ - “I Spent a Spooky Night Aboard the Queen Mary.” People Magazine, 2024.
https://people.com/queen-mary-haunted-ghost-tour-spend-night-room-b340-long-beach-8728032 - “The Queen Mary’s Haunted Pool – Ghost Story.” USC Folklore Archives.
https://folklore.usc.edu/the-queen-marys-haunted-pool-ghost-story/ - Official site and press materials: https://www.queenmary.com/
The Rave / Eagles Ballroom – Milwaukee, WI
- “The Rave’s Haunted Pool.” OnMilwaukee, 2019.
https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/the-rave-haunted-pool - “Eagles Ballroom History and Haunting.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (feature archives).
- Venue background: https://www.therave.com/
McCarren Park Pool – Brooklyn, NY
- Dunlap, D. (2012). “After 28 Years, McCarren Park Pool Reopens.” The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/nyregion/mccarren-park-pool-reopens-in-brooklyn.html - “WPA Pool Reimagined.” The Architect’s Newspaper.
- “McCarren Park Pool: Brooklyn’s Most Haunted Pool.” NY Ghosts.
https://nyghosts.com/mccarren-park-pool-brooklyns-most-haunted-pool/
Amarillo Natatorium “The Nat” – Amarillo, TX
- “A Look Back at the Natatorium.” Amarillo Globe-News.
- “Historic Amarillo Natatorium Marks 90 Years.” Route 66 News.
- Texas Route 66 Heritage documentation, 2022.
Baker Hotel – Mineral Wells, TX
- “The Haunted Baker Hotel’s Grand Return.” Texas Monthly.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/the-baker-hotel-mineral-wells/ - “Baker Hotel Restoration Underway in Mineral Wells.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
- Texas Historical Commission Atlas, Site ID MW-002.
- Official Restoration Project: https://thebakerhotelandspa.com/
Marquette University (Former YMCA Pool) – Milwaukee, WI
- “Haunted Campus: The Boy in the Pool.” Marquette Wire.
- “Straz Tower Ghost Story Still Swims Laps in Campus Lore.” Urban Milwaukee.
- Marquette University Archives, Straz Tower building file.
Twin Oaks Swimming Pool – Lancaster County, PA
- “Wandering Wight of Ironville Pike.” Uncharted Lancaster.
https://unchartedlancaster.com/ - “Remnants of Twin Oaks Pool Recall a Simpler Summer.” LancasterOnline.
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel – Tropicana Pool – Los Angeles, CA
- “Hockney Pool Mural Gets a Stay of Execution.” Los Angeles Times, Jan. 9 1988.
- “Hockney Work Stays Afloat at Roosevelt Pool.” Los Angeles Times, May 3 1988.
- “The Restoration of David Hockney’s Underwater Work of Art.” Journal Hotels.
https://journalhotels.com/thejournalist/7230/the-restoration-of-david-hockneys-underwater-work-of-art/
Mineral Springs Hotel – Alton, IL
- “Ghost Stories Flow Freely at Mineral Springs Hotel.” The Telegraph (Alton).
- “Spirits of Alton: The Hotel That Refused to Die.” RiverBender.com.
- Great Rivers & Routes Tourism Bureau media resources: https://www.riversandroutes.com/
Rock Island YMCA (Now Haunted Rock Island Roadhouse) – Rock Island, IL
- “Haunted Rock Island Roadhouse Investigation.” KWQC-TV6 (NBC).
- “Former YMCA Transformed into Haunted Attraction.” Quad-City Times.
- Rock Island Preservation Society archives: https://rockislandpreservation.org/
