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Reverend Richard E. Scully, founder of the Cincinnati Goodwill operated a Fresh Air Camp for women and children in the 1930s and 40s. The camp was part of a 100-acre site with vegetable fields, a swimming pool, tennis courts and horseshoe pits. The farm house on site was used as lodging for visitors. Men who worked at the camp received food and other forms of relief for their families. Vegetables produced on site were distributed at the Goodwill location at Ninth Street and Freeman Avenue in Cicinnati. According to family stories, Ruth Ann Eldridge, the frist child of Edison and Anna Eldridge, was buried on the site of the camp in 1933. Rev. Scully had officiated at Edison and Anna’s wedding and was a friend of the family.
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For seven glorious summers, from July 13, 1895 to July 27, 1902, laughter and gaiety rang forth from the first amusement park in Franklin County. With intoxicants banned, the Park was enjoyed by the “respectable” folk of the Gay ’90s – the stone water tower/jail was quick to house any ruffian who threatened disharmony. Delighting young and old were the Zoological Garden, Ornithological Museum, the Scenic Railway roller coaster, Shoot the Chutes (the water slide of its day), swimming, boating, baseball, bowling, concerts, dancing, picnics, strolls in the cool woodlands, pony rides, fireworks, the orchestrion replicating a 36-piece orchestra, grande vaudeville, and theater. Minerva Park’s popularity faded with the opening of Olentangy Park, only 3 miles from downtown Columbus.
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Established during the Great Migration and intense segregation in Columbus, The Big Walnut Country Club (BWCC) was one of the first Black country clubs in the United States. Conceived in 1925 and incorporated two years later, the club encouraged and promoted aquatic and athletic sports by providing the means and facilities otherwise not available to the Black community. Members enjoyed golf, swimming, archery, tennis, badminton, boating, dining, and dancing on the nearly 20 acres of land between the Big Walnut and Rocky Fork creeks. The club was a social, professional, and political hub for Central Ohio’s growing Black population in the decades leading to the Civil Rights Movement. The BWCC closed in 1963. Gahanna purchased the land in 1970 and opened its first public park, Friendship Park, the following year.
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City architect Frederic H. Betz designed the St. Clair Avenue Public Bath House and it was constructed in 1919-1920 at a cost of $320,000. The facility included a large gymnasium, swimming pool, and laundry, in addition to showers. City Council dedicated the newly completed building to the late, beloved Cleveland Indians shortstop Raymond Chapman in 1920. The St. Clair Recreation Center, as it was later known, was in the impact zone and survived the East Ohio Gas Company disaster on October 20, 1944. The facility was remodeled in 1949 and subsequent renovations demonstrate the utility of the building. Edward J. Kovacic (1910-1974) was the superintendent of the bathhouse from 1933-1934 and served on the City Council from 1940-1953. In 1977, the facility was renamed to honor Kovacic’s contributions to the citizens of the St. Clair neighborhood and to the city. (Continued on other side)
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The Central Avenue Public Bath House was designed by Frederic Betz, the City of Cleveland’s first appointed architect. Opened in February 1920, it served the Black population in the congested Central neighborhood. The brick building featured symmetrical windows and entrances at either end that led into men’s and women’s waiting rooms and individual shower rooms. Larger group showers for children were in the basement. The second floor featured club rooms as well as a physician’s room and a nurse’s room. In 1926, a swimming pool and gymnasium were added. In 1940, as the need for public bathing facilities waned, Central Avenue Public Bath House was converted into a recreation center. One of Cleveland’s five remaining Bath Houses, Central Avenue stands as a manifestation of the city’s commitment to the health and welfare of its citizens.
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Prominent architect William S. Lougee designed the Woodland Public Bath House that opened in 1915 at a cost of approximately $90,000. The first floor of the facility included separate shower baths for men and women, an office, waiting rooms, and a gymnasium with a 53-yard running track. The second story was divided into four rooms: a club room, a small city library branch, a baby dispensary, and clinic. The basement featured an indoor swimming pool popular among adults and children. Like other public bath houses in Cleveland, the Woodland Bath House was an invaluable social space for its diverse community of largely Hungarian, but also Slovak, Bohemian, Italian, Lithuanian, and Jewish residents. In 1918, the City estimated that 254,508 residents had used Woodland Bath House facilities, enjoying classes, camps, baths, and clinics.