Arlington Bathing Beach, Segregated Swimmers

Description:

During the 1920s Arlington had a bathing beach on the Potomac River. The beach featured swimming, concessions, canoes, and a ferris wheel. Despite being located near the African American neighborhoods of East Arlington and Queen City, the Arlington Bathing Beach was segregated. Here you can see all-white bathers enjoying the facility. James "Jimmy" E. Taylor, who lived in Hall's Hill, said that black children swam in a "creek out on Route 50... called 'Blue Man Junction'" since more formal swimming locations were not open to them. The beach was closed down in 1929 to make way for expansions to Hoover Airport, today known as National Airport.


Date:

June 16, 1923

Creator:

National Photo Company

Subject

None recorded.

Identifier

None recorded.

Contributor

None recorded.

Rights

There are no known restrictions on the photographs in the National Photo Company Collection.

Citation

National Photo Company, “Arlington Bathing Beach, Segregated Swimmers,” Built By the People Themselves, accessed March 28, 2024, https://lindseybestebreurtje.org/arlingtonhistory/items/show/12.

Geolocation

ArlingtonBathingBeach1925.jpg