Masten Park Pool was the site of the YMCA Outdoor Swim Meet, captured in this undated photograph by Hauser Bob. The swimming center was one of four such centers built by the Works Progress Administration in 1938—the others at Kensington-Grider, Schiller Park, and Centennial Park (now LaSalle Park).

Here, Masten Park Pool flanks Civic Stadium, another WPA project known after 1960 as War Memorial Stadium and more commonly as “the Rockpile.” The original pool has been replaced, the Art Moderne diving boards are no more, and the WPA pavilion still stands in what is now known as the Johnnie B. Wiley Sports Complex. The Rockpile was demolished in 1989.

Image courtesy of The Buffalo History Museum. Used by permission.