Permission was given for the Council to erect a public baths at Dawes Point in 1868 and it was built shortly after. The baths were on the western side of the point, accessed from the north western part of George Street. The baths were sometimes known as the Public Harbour Baths.
A number of deaths occurred at the baths including that of William Thomas Fleming in 1878, Ernest Davenport in 1881 and Peter Tierney in 1885. Some inquests pointed to the dangerous state or the shallowness of the baths.
A report in 1899 mentions a 'swimming bath of small dimensions.' The baths were not in use by 1909.
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