On the "beach." Photo: Bain News Service/Buyenlarge/Getty Images
Today, the Tidal Basin is off-limits to swimmers but in the early 1900s it was basically the go-to pool.
How it worked: The Bathing Beach on the Tidal Basin opened in 1918, thanks to one very sweaty U.S. senator from Nebraska and an act of Congress, WETA reports.
- Swimmers played water tennis, lounged on a makeshift beach, ate ice cream, and lined up for miles to visit. Bureaucrats even competed in diving contests!
Yes, but: The beach was only open to white people. Black swimmers were forced to swim in dangerous, undeveloped areas of the Potomac.
Between the lines: The demise of the site began in the 1920s when Congress began to squabble over whether to allocate money for an African American beach along the Potomac, per WETA.
- When funding for that project was eliminated, lawmakers "fearful" that Black swimmers would try to integrate the Tidal Basin pushed for it to close.
By 1925, the bathing beach was no more and some people turned to swimming in the Reflecting Pool.
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