Echoes of the Blue Pool, A Hidden Chapter in Granite City’s Youth

GraniteCityGossip.com, September 15, 2025

As summer begins its winddown, it reminds us of a time before smartphones and social media, before GPS and Google Maps, there was a place whispered about among Granite City teens, teens looking for something to do on a hot summer evening, a place that felt secret, sacred, and just a little bit forbidden. It was called the Blue Pool, and if you were lucky (or bold) enough to find it, you knew you were in for something unforgettable.

Carved out of the bluffs on the Great River Road near Alton, Illinois, the Blue Pool wasn’t marked on any tourist map. You had to know someone who knew someone. And once you did, you’d squeeze through the fencing, hop a few rocks, and suddenly find yourself staring into a deep, glassy pool of water that shimmered with mystery.

Originally a rock quarry operated in the late 1800s, the site was abandoned when workers struck a deep-water table. Over time, the pit filled with water, forming what locals began calling the Blue Pool. Some say the name came from the way the sky reflected off its surface, others swear the water itself had a strange, almost magical hue.

The Blue Pool wasn’t just a swimming hole, it was a storybook of urban legends:

“It has no bottom!” some claimed, until it was pumped in the 1970s after a tragic drowning.

“There’s a train down there!” A myth that turned up mining carts and even a car, but no locomotive.

“It’s haunted.” With multiple deaths over the decades, the eerie silence of the pool only added to its reputation.

For Granite City teens and young adults who were ready for a party, these stories weren’t deterrents, they were invitations. The danger made it thrilling. The mystery made it magnetic.

If you grew up in the area, chances are you spent a summer afternoon or a late hot night jumping from the rocks (if you were brave), swimming in the cool depths, or just sitting at the edge, swapping stories and secrets. It was a place where friendships were forged, crushes were confessed, and memories were made.

Today, the Blue Pool is fenced off and marked with warnings. It’s no longer accessible, but it lives on in the minds of those who dared to dive in. For those who remember, the Blue Pool wasn’t just a place, it was a feeling. A fleeting moment of freedom, rebellion, and connection. To us that remember those days, we know today’s young ones haven’t a clue what that time was like. And though the water may be still now, our memories ripple on.