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Don Boyd | all galleries >> Memories of Old Hialeah, Old Miami and Old South Florida Photo Galleries - largest non-Facebook collection on the internet >> Memories of Old HIALEAH, Florida - Historical Photo Galleries and Commentaries - click on image to view and read > 1940 - City swimming pool on East 4th Avenue, Hialeah
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1940 ©1940 Rose Farrell Taylor

1940 - City swimming pool on East 4th Avenue, Hialeah

Hialeah, Florida


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Guest 15-Aug-2017 16:57
There doesn't seem to be too many pictures of east hialeah during its construction in 1948.
PATRIpatriciagast@hotmail.com 30-May-2015 21:23
1943 THE POOL HAD A SLIDE INTO THE WATER; WE WOULD RIDE OUR HORSES UP THERE AND POP HAD A BIG WASH TUB FOR THEM. THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLE YEARS AND MEMORIES' THERE WERE A LOT OF BIG OLD TREES ALL AROUND IT
Marcia 21-May-2014 02:42
My mistake. Betty Peabody was the pool manager at Babcock. Mary was the manager at Miami Springs pool, with her husband Dick. Mary and Betty had similar traits, andI guess that's why Mary's name popped up in my head.
Charlene Brame 28-Dec-2010 18:40
Yes, Benny Babcock pool...I was addicted to swimming. My brother Tommy and I lived at that park. I was Miss Benny Babcock in the late 50's and wore the ugliest pink shorts. I also forgot to thank the judges, I was so excited. I learned to swim there while in Hialeah Elementary, then I taught small kids later. And of course, we were at the Essex Theater every Saturday. So many memories...my 20 year old grandson doesn't believe it was that carefree. So sad.
Marcia 18-Aug-2009 15:54
Is this Benny Babcock Pool or Bright Pool? It must be brand new here. I was a lifeguard and taught swimming at Benny Babcock pool in 1970 and 1971. I don't remember the diving board looking like that, though it may have been rebuilt by the time I worked there. As for it's reputation as a dirty pool, I always heard you could get impetigo there, gross. When I worked there, the pool was scrubbed thoroughly every Monday by one of the other lifeguards and was ruled by the iron hand of our pool manager Mary, who had once been a sergeant in the Army. Kids were scared to death of her, she would sit on a bench with reflecting sunglasses and God help the kid who ran on the pool deck. I was pretty scared too! - Marcia
Royce W. 18-Apr-2009 19:11
I lived in E. 10th avenue, Hialeah during the 50's too. I went to Flamingo Elementary and remember the Bright Park pool, built around 1960. I was there on inaguration day with all my cousins, what memories! A couple of my cousins were later killed in Nam, but the majical memories of us swimming and splashing each other in the pool is what stays in my mind..
I also remember we used to shop in Flamingo Park, on E. 10th Ave. and my older brother was always buying car stuff in the Western Auto that was there. He had a pretty cool 51 Chevy, with spotlights and chrome hubcaps, which I used to help him shine up. WE still talk about it when we meet up during some Holidays.
There used to be a Royal Castle where my cousins and I used to go to pig out on their delicious burgers (my record stands at 6 hamburgers and 3 root beers in one sitting) even though I was skinny as a beanpole..........
KEN E. 13-Dec-2008 02:39
AHH. OLD BENNY BABCOCK POOL . WHERE I LEARNED TO SWIM AND DIVE . BOY WAS I A DIVER ! BOTH ON THE LOW AND HIGH BOARDS . I CAN REMEMBER THO MAYBE 1 OR 2 SUMMERS IT COULD NOT OPEN BECAUSE OF THE POLIO EPIDEMIC , LATE 40'S OR EARLY 50'S . I CAN TO THIS DAY REMEMBER SEEING PICTURES OF YOUNG KIDS LYING IN HUGE IRON LUNGS , SO SAD .. MY FRIEND BOBBY ROSS LIVED RIGHT ACCROSS THE STREET .... KEN E.
Itty Barry 08-Aug-2008 18:05
I do remember the old slaughter house on Red Road. Mom and Dad (Coghlan) used to get our dog food there!!!!
Gail Kennedy 23-May-2008 20:04
I remember now that you mentioned the men with the rifles. As I remember it smelled pretty bad and if the wind was just right we lived close enough that we got a real good whiff. Do you remember the shanty town right across the street from the slaughter house by that stinky canal? I also remember Red Road being a bad street for wrecks. You'd hear of people going into that canal all the time. Also were train tracks nearby with no arms to come down. You'd have to stop and look both ways. Lots of cars hit by trains too.
Alford17-May-2008 06:49
Oh, my, yes - to all these posted memories! Babcock Park was where I went to kindergarten, and that pool was always dirty in the early 50s. I recall (excuse this please) seeing feces floating in it one day. Perhaps it was kept clean at other times but that sticks in my memory.

And the slaughter house! OMG! If it's the one I'm thinking of it was on the corner of Red Road and W. 29th Street, no? The road that went directly by Filer Jr. High? What I recall, and it's still inflamed in my memory, is walking home from Filer and seeing the man with the gun walking the edge of the high corral or fenced in area where the cows were kept, pointing his gun down into the pen, and shooting. Yep.

That is the reason they closed it down - too close to the school and impressionable school kids just like me. At least that's the way I recall it - I was 12/13 years old in seventh grade.
Gail Kennedy 06-May-2008 23:44
I too remember this swimming pool. It was the first time I dove off a high dive on a dare. I was scared to death. Does anybody remember the old slaughter house off of Red Road. Every once in a while the cattle would escape and end up in our neighborhood with the police chasing them. Good memories.
Bill Windrem 12-Nov-2007 21:15
P.S. When we moved into Miami Springs in 1957 we lived about two blocks from the MS Public Library. Anyone wondering why the tennis courts and former basketball courts are behind the Library? It is because in 1957 the now Miami Springs Public Library was the Miami Springs Recreation Center. Additionally, the Rec Center would have someone at the tennis courts on Friday nights playing records so the kids could rollar skate (how cool), at no charge of course.
Bill Windrem 12-Nov-2007 21:07
I too learned to swim at the Babcock Pool. Moved to Hialeah in 1950, lived at 695 SE 7th Pl, rode my bicycle to the elem school behind Babcock Park on E 6 AV for the 1st grade. For the 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade I walked over the E 4th AV bridge to go to Glenn Curtis Elem. in MS. In 1957 we moved to Miami Springs and I went to MS Elem for 4th , 5th grade, about a two block walk. I remember a Dusty Sherlock from MS Junior High (now called the Middle School). MSSH was not built yet. So, it was a yellow school bus to HHS than hitchhiking home down Palm Av. I could have gone to MSSH my senior year, except I graduated in '65, the year Springs High was built.

I do remember Saturday movies it the Exxex Theater, but I also remember sneaking in to the back door of the Essex and also the Circle Theater in MS.

Weekend adventure were something like bicycling to Dressel's Dairy (on NW 72nd Av) for ice cream or when MIA was built on LeJune Rd we would ride our bicycles down LeJune to take the ramp down hill from LeJune to the terminal (you could really get up some speed going down that ramp).

I can remember when Red Rd was only two lanes , and I am not sure it was paved. We would water ski in Maule Lake behind the Air Port and camp on the island where the Hilton Hotel is now. UM had a Water Ski Club that I believe rented a house on the lake, they had a ski jump in the lake but I never had the nerve to try it.

We used to shop at Northside Shopping Center before Dadeland or Westland were built. Before that it was a bus ride downtown. At the time the Doral Country Club was being built, we would drive the gravel roads where Doral is now camping and shooting tin cans and such things. I still live in Miami Springs, have raised my three children here, and am workong with my oldest son Michael who is running Miami Springs Realty.
Guest 14-Oct-2007 02:08
Dusty Cambra I remember you , your brother in law Johnny Cambra and I were good friends in the mid 60s. I knew Eddie but he was about four years older. I lived down the street from your in laws. I remember going to your parents house with Eddie to look at the Honda Hawk he was thinking of buying from your father. I still live in the same area, and go past your old house on 7th ave. occasionaly.
Dusty Sherlock Cambra 31-Aug-2007 20:52
OMG! Jimmy Sledge? I knew you along time ago. My sister Marilyn was married to your uncle Bobby Wheeler. I am Marilyn's "little sister" Dusty. I remember your mom Patsy and your dad and little brother. Bobby Wheeler, God rest his soul, will always be one of my favorite people. Small world.
jsledge03-Aug-2007 18:27
I, too, learned to swim in this pool, in 1954. Spent many enjoyable hours at Benny
Babcock Park. My parents(my Mom, Patsy Sledge, who posted here) moved here
in 1944, I think, when Dad was stationed nearby in the Army-Aircore. I was about
6 months old at the time, and attended 1st through the 5th grade at Hialeah Elem.
and South Hialeah Elem. School. I'm 63 years old now, but still have vivid memories
of my childhood in Hialeah!
Patsy Wheeler Sledge 27-Jul-2007 00:09
Yeah! 1940 was the year that I finished Jr. High School at the Hialeah Elementary.
I remember so many happy times spent there. I am desperately seeking any
information on my classmates, who I am going to list, in hopes that someone will
recognize some of them and let me know how I can get in touch. Thanks for any
help you can provide. My e-mail address is Pat43james@aol.com. I cannot recall
our homeroom teacher, but do remember that she taught us music and how to
sing.
1940 Classmates
George King, James Jordan, Albert Johnson, George Lockerby, Albert James, Bill Thomson, Jack Mackey, Richard Jordan, Cecil Curran, Leonard Roberts, Byron Taylor, James Martin, Marvin Godwin, Kathleen Rainey, Sarah Hughes, Gene High,
Viola ?, Bette DeVesi, Harold Culbreth, Thomas Lott, Beatrice Wirth, Ruth Wilmarth,
Florence Skates, Rose Farrell, Ida Lee Barrett, Stella Johnson, Ruth Goodwin, Rebeth Blum.
I have a small photo of the above group, including myself, taken either in the front
or the back of the school. I'm sure most, or all, of the above are married and have
grandchildren. Those were such happy days and this old dame would really like
to remeneise (sp?) with any, or all of them. Thanks you so much for letting me
use your site. I have browsed every site and gallery.
Patsy Wheeler Sledge

Dusty Cambra 26-Jul-2007 16:41
I learned to swim in this pool. I was born in Hialeah in 1946. I lived at 611 E. 7th Ave. I spent most of my childhood days at Benny Babcock Park and was in this pool almost every day. I have such fond memories of this city. My 2 older sisters and I used to ride horses on the White Belt Dairy property 1 block east of my house where Lejune Road is now. We would eat guavas and mulberrys growing wild in area. There was a pony ring on 9th St & 7th Ave where I used to ride every Sunday after church. My mom shopped at the Food Fair on Lejune (8th Ave) and 9th St. The ball park on 9th ave was a great thrill sitting in the grand stand eating a hot dog and a snow cone. The Essex theater was my Saturday treat I got to tag along with my sisters, with my lunch in a paper bag, spending all day there. The Lone Ranger and Roy Rogers were my heros. What a great childhood I had in this small and wonderful city. I moved out of Hialeah in 1986 to Cooper City, 15 miles north of where I grew up, but a world away. I still drive through Hialeah every once and awhile, it's totally changed of course, but these pictures keep the memories alive. Thank you for sharing. Dusty (Sherlock) Cambra



Guest 06-Jul-2007 18:43
Yes it is!!!
Guest 09-Jun-2007 13:24
From Kay Stelling in Orlando......this pool was the original Benny Babcock park, right?