We spend a lot of time talking up the most amazing things around the greater northwest area, and considering that this includes all of Washington State, that means we end up reviewing a lot of highly funded places… but still, this place, lowly funded, and 70-years hence, is still pretty noteworthy.

Terry Montana is what I call a sleepy town (despite their repeated protests about such a label.) Even though they’re right along I-94, and they have limited industry (thanks to the exodus of rail, agriculture and any vague hope of mining,) as well as limited tourism.

The lack of tourism is something I personally think is without foundation. They have great natural attractions like the Calypso Trail and the assorted Evelyn Cameron galleries, as well as static attractions like their many restaurants and Prairie Unique (a gift shop cleverly blended with a world-class R/C shop,) as well as a great handful of in-town attractions like the Kempton Hotel haunted tour, the BNSF Tunnel site, and the periodic fly-in events at the local airport.

But all that aside, (as if you could actually put all that sort of stuff aside,) there’s the WPA pool dating literally back all the way to the WPA days.

The kids enjoy it, the city leaders fund it enough to keep it alive all summer (though it’s anything but easy, especially due to leakage and inefficiencies from an era long gone,) and it’s a real cornerstone in the community.

We spent an afternoon at the pool. It would have been longer, but the bitter, berating lights of the summer sun don’t always agree with the natural tone of our collective skin-tones.

This pool was hand-dug with cement hand-poured by WPA workers. That doesn’t just mean it’s as American as apple pie, but that it’s as old as an apple pie baked a zillion years ago… but this is one the locals are still eating after all these years.

The pool looks a bit off-color, thanks in no small part to hard-water mineralization, but it’s still as fun and fulfilling as it was when it was first opened. If you’re looking for a taste of how great America used to be, and the projects that made our nation great, this pool is one such example you can still find. It’s still fine, fun and open to the public, and if you’re in Terry, Montana, it’s our hope that you’ll stop in and check it out.

The pool is located within Murn Park, right at the west edge, so check it out and have fun.