In August of 1897 a large red-tiled bath house called Los Baños opened near the foot of D Street (now Broadway). It was erected by Graham E. Babcock, the son of Coronado developer Elisha S. Babcock, and designed by architects William Hebbard and Irving Gill.

By 1928, enough homes with indoor plumbing had been built for public bathhouses to fall out of fashion. San Diego Gas & Electric Co. demolished Los Baños to make way for the Station B power plant.

From The San Diego Union and Daily Bee, Sunday Aug. 1, 1897:

NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT THE NEW BATHS WILL BE OPEN

In Its Details the Finest Bath House in the United States — Remarkable Beauty of the Architecture and Luxury of Appointments — All Kinds of Baths.

The formal opening of the magnificent baths erected by Graham E. Babcock near the foot of D street, opposite the Santa Fe depot, will take place next Saturday evening. For the past two or three weeks a force of eighty men has been at work on the building, inside and out, and the finishing touches are being added at a great rate. It was expected that the bath house would not be ready for the public until the middle of August, but progress has been so rapid that a whole week will be gained.

The institution, which has already been named “Los Banos,” the Spanish equivalent for “The Baths,” will be in most respects the finest of its kind in the United States. The Sutro baths at San Francisco may be larger, but there are features of Mr. Babcock’s baths which excel them in scientific arrangement of sanitation, as well as convenience. The building itself is on of the most beautiful in the state, after the old mission style of architecture, with a blending of the modern and antique in innumerable pretty devices.

The doors of the main entrance are of veneered oak, with heavy hardware trimmings. Projecting outwardly are the stairways leading up to the towers and dome-covered balconies, one on either side of the entrance. The windows are all artistic in design and seemingly countless in number, affording, with the glass roof over the great plunge, a flood of light. There is no part of the large building that will not be well lighted and ventilated. The red metal tiling, on towers and roof surmounting the exterior walls of beautiful light buff, makes a combination of coloring that with the quaint architecture affords a picture of surprising attractiveness.

To the right upon entering the building is the large tank or plunge bath, 95 by 55 feet in size, and ranging from two to nine and one-half feet in depth. The upper half is finished in white tile. Extending around the tank on three sides are about 100 dressing rooms, and immediately above is the balcony for spectators. None will be permitted to occupy the space abutting on the tank. The truss roof is 48 feet above the water. There will be a slide, trapeze, springboards and rings in the big tank.

A reception room 16 by 9 feet in size at the right of the main entrance faces the plunge, and a stairway reaches the balcony overhead. To the left of the entrance is the office, 42 by 14 feet in size and possessing private wash stands, closets, towel racks, etc. A cigar stand will also occupy this room opening on D street. Over the office, reached by an inner stairway, are the five bed rooms to be occupied by the employes of the baths.

There are 135 dressing rooms in the building, twenty-five porcelain tub baths, one cement tub and a Russian bath. All tub baths have a shower bath overhead, and there is a shower bath finished in white tile on the floor and sides at the south end of the big tank. Another shower bath, similarly finished, is behind swinging doors in a corridor formed by a series of rooms set apart exclusively for female patrons. In the eastern end of the building is the laundry, containing an electric centrifugal wringer and steam drying room, with a capacity for drying 500 suits an hour.

A notable feature of the institution is the Russian bath, consisting of a cement and tile room without windows, in the center of which a four-inch fresh-air pipe extends up through the floor. A half-inch pipe admits steam at the will of the bather, who is enabled to enjoy a steaming after the Russian fashion at any temper he chooses. When he emerges from the steam he can cool off in a combination needle, douche and overhead shower bath. A step or two away is the lounging room, where he may rest awhile before going out in the open air.

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