A historic photograph long linked to an early swimming hole near Caxton Street has come under fresh scrutiny, with new research finding no contemporary evidence that such a pool existed in Paddington before the formal Ithaca Baths opened in 1916.
Recent research examined competing claims about a well-known State Library of Queensland photograph showing a large waterhole crowded with swimmers and spectators. One theory has placed the scene near present-day Ithaca Pool, between Caxton Street and the former Paddington Cemetery, while another identifies it as a swimming hole on Ithaca Creek near Lugg Street in Bardon.
Caxton Street enters the story
Calls for public swimming baths in the former Ithaca district began in the late nineteenth century. By 1900, the Western Suburbs Athletics Club had suggested the recreation reserve at Caxton Street as a suitable site.
The state government reclassified the reserve for swimming purposes in 1901, but Ithaca Council lacked the money to proceed. Several proposals followed over the next decade as councillors considered how and where public baths could be built.
Newspaper reports and council discussions repeatedly describe proposals for future swimming baths at Caxton Street, but the investigation found no contemporary record of an existing public swimming hole there before the formal pool was built.
Cemetery land reshaped
The Caxton Street reserve sat beside land once occupied by the North Brisbane Burial Grounds, commonly known as Paddington Cemetery.
The cemetery operated through much of the nineteenth century before the Queensland Government resumed the burial grounds in 1911. Graves and memorials were progressively relocated as the former cemetery land was cleared and repurposed.
Later accounts have claimed residents used part of the cleared area for a rudimentary swimming hole before the permanent baths opened. Historical investigations, however, found no early newspaper or council evidence supporting that account because the creek baths were apparently damaged by flooding within weeks and were never permanently restored.
Baths finally arrive
Formal swimming baths at Caxton Street did not open until 21 October 1916.
The project followed years of stalled proposals and debate over cost. Earlier that year, council was still discussing whether baths could be established at Caxton Street. By September, swimmer Dick Cavill had offered to lease the completed facility, and an agreement was reached before the October opening.
Photograph remains unsolved
The State Library photograph remains catalogued as a crowd at the Ithaca Creek swimming hole, with its fuller description placing the scene near School Street. The image was also reproduced in the 1985 Ithaca Creek State School centenary booklet.
Researcher Angus Veitch found that the landscape in the photograph also appears difficult to match with the documented Lugg Street site, where roads and development were already present by the time the image is believed to have been taken.
What the historical record establishes more firmly is that Caxton Street was repeatedly proposed for public baths before the permanent Ithaca facility opened in 1916, while the earlier documented swimming place belonged to Ithaca Creek several kilometres away.
Published 22-Sept-2026
