Things to do in Tuscaloosa: The Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum

The Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum

Along the Jack Warner Parkway, directly across from the library rests a charming art deco museum. The Transportation Museum offers interactive and unique displays that showcase the history of the city through the growth of transportation in Tuscaloosa. While the round room may easily guide the flow from each display, this wasn’t the original purpose of the space. Built in 1943, The Queen City Pool was built by architect Don Buel Schuyler. He was an apprentice for Frank Lloyd Wright and was commissioned to build a bathhouse for a public wading pool. The public pool featured a classic art deco fountain that still stands today. The Warner family brought the Pool and its bathhouse to the city after they tragically lost their son David when he drowned. The city of Tuscaloosa had two public works built pools, the Gulf States Pool, and Queen City. The pool closed in 1966 when desegregation was mandated, and the Queen City was a former whites-only pool. Eventually, the pool was filled in and remained vacant for several years. It wasn’t until 2005 that the city announced the bathhouse would be converted into a local museum. The renovation was completed and on December 13th, 2011 the bathhouse officially opened. Today the museum is owned and operated by the City of Tuscaloosa and The University of Alabama Museums. Find out more here.