The information on this page
was written by Bob Rohrer, who takes full responsibility for the accuracy of
this information, based upon information gleaned from personal
observation, from articles and observations by local historian
Ray Crippen on these subjects and from books by AP Rose "History of Nobles
County" 1908 and Al Goff "History of Nobles County" 1948, and from an 1882 State
of Minnesota Geology report.
First Design: One Level bathhouse, long with closed sides
scan10028.jpg
scan10029.jpg
scan10025.jpg
scan1006.jpg
Worthington_bathhouse_3: looking towards the shoreline from
the top of the Nobles County Court House
pastedgraphic1.jpg: looking west along the shore from the top
of the Bathhouse
This version of the bathhouse is a long, enclosed solid building.
There is a two story wooden waterslide structure.
The flat objects on the water are buoys to promote swimming and water fun
A wooden sled was used for the ride down the "chute", which was the name used to describe the waterslide on a number of the photos
There are many sailing craft and row boats visible and being used for entertainment in these photos.
The Hwy 59&60 RR underpass is visible on several of the photos which helps us understand where the bathhouse was located on the Lake Okabena shoreline.
The Mpls to Sioux City RR is visible in the background, but the Rock Island RR track is not visible because these photos were taken to the south of Hwy 59&60, which at that time was 2nd Avenue, within the city, and went under the RR underpass. This Bathhouse area is south of where the Rock Island RR track was located and therefore out-of-the-viewing area..
There is a Ice storage warehouse visible along the RR in one of these photos.
Bob may be contacted at
webmaster@wgtn.net or
507/372-5715