Micky Thornton finished a 500,000‑gallon backyard pool in Covington, Tennessee, in 2021 after 28 years of construction that began Labor Day 1993.
The finished structure relies on 320 yards of gunite and 40,000 pounds of steel rebar, and Thornton engineered a custom filtration system to keep the vast volume of water clean.
What began as a family project quickly became a community hub; over 400 baptisms have taken place, and the pool hosted the Japanese national baseball team for an afternoon swim.
Jane Thornton, whose insistence that the pool not sit beside the house led to its hillside layout, said the design has allowed her family to host countless celebrations.
Thornton now manages the pool through a paid reservation system on Facebook, turning his childhood dream into a sustainable venue for parties, weddings, and religious rites.