27 March 2020

A Genealogy Society Research Committee Project

I am a volunteer for the San Joaquin Genealogical Society.  I am in charge of their First Families Program and Research Requests.

Recently, I received a request from a gentleman in Germany.  He had an old family photo album that had some photos with the words "Stockton, Calif." written on the back.  He asked if it would be possible to identify what was going on in the photos.



The first one is a photo of three young people in bathing suits.  I knew immediately where this photo had been taken - Stockton Mineral Baths.  The young man in the middle has the initials "SMB" on his suit which is for Stockton Mineral Baths.  He must have been a lifeguard.


Stockton’s most famous mineral baths were the Jackson Baths built in 1893 at the present location of McKinley Park. Three wells supplied water to one large pool and several smaller pools which were surrounded by swings, a trapeze, slides, springboards and 150 dressing rooms. The facility included twelve bath houses for private parties, a clubhouse for entertaining and a grand stand for musical concerts. The thirteen acre resort destination also featured lawn areas with picnic tables and barbecue pits, and even a small zoo and a scenic railway. Renamed the Stockton Mineral Baths after substantial renovations in 1920, the expanded pool became the largest swimming tank in the world with a central circular pool with two wings. Renowned architect Glenn Allen designed the four-story lighthouse tower with a statuary and fountain at its base, two Venetian bridges at either side of the circular pool and several slides and waterfalls. Private pavilions, wading pools and sandy beaches made all this Stockton’s most popular attraction of the time. Unfortunately, these wells dissipated by the 1940s.

The other photo is of a parade.  The woman in front is holding a sign that reads "Joan of Arc Society." 


I went to the newspapers for help with this photo.  I quickly found what I was looking for in the Stockton Daily Evening Record for 8 June 1918 on page 16.




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