The Lurline Pier, also known as the Olympic Pier, at Ocean Beach between Anza and Balboa Streets was built to protect the intake pipe that provided seawater to the baths.

Founded in 1892, the company also supplied water to the Olympic Club as well as smaller commercial baths.

Use of sea water for bathing and in swimming pools was common in the 19th century before pollution became an issue.

The company built a water distribution system of the intake pipe located 600 feet offshore, almost 4 miles of iron pipe along present-day Geary Boulevard, a water pump, and the reservoir tank located on Laurel Heights.

[1] The baths were immortalized by Thomas Edison in August 1897 when he captured 20 seconds (50 feet) of film featuring scenes from the Lurline pool;[2] the main feature is the water slide with some going down in a sitting position and others lying down, head first or feet first.