The Barraba Baths complex was designed and constructed by Barraba Shire Council. It was dedicated as a war memorial on 14 November 1964 by Major-General Dougherty and opened the same day by the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. P.N. Ryan. In the 1960s, the NSW Government set out to establish some 60 war memorial swimming pools. War Memorial Pool Committees were established, and with support of local councils, members of the local town and district and the state government, the pools were constructed.