The 1912 bathhouse at South Shore Park

In the early 1900s, when South Shore Park was known as the 17th Ward Lake Shore Park, there was no permanent public bathhouse building where swimmers could change into their swimming suits, lock up their personal items, and take a shower. Rather, there were temporary bathhouses set up on the beach, like the ones run by a man known as Mr. Brown. Former Bay View resident Arthur Hickman, born in 1905, used Mr. Brown’s bathhouse as a small child. “It consisted of a number of dressing cubicles erected on a slightly elevated platform,” recalled Hickman in his book, Bay View As I Remember It.

Another Bay View resident, Ruth Zoeller Hanley, also recalled some early bathhouses. “There were two tiny bath stalls at the foot of Nock Street where waders and swimmers could change into their bathing suits,” said Hanley in the “Jaunts with Jamie” column in an April 1961 Milwaukee Sentinel. But before long, these early bathhouses were replaced by a permanent bathhouse erected by the park commission in 1912.

Built over a Sewer Outlet

In 1910, plans were being made for the bathhouse, but were put on hold due to a controversy over a sewer outlet at the foot of E. Rusk Avenue. This sewer had been built in 1893 to control flooding of Deer Creek. The sewer, according to the 1911 Annual Report of the Park Commission, was 10 feet in diameter, with 16-inch-thick walls.

Nearby residents and park users complained that the sewer emitted a foul odor in summer. This sewer odor was a concern for the park commissioners. The common council, however, went ahead and gave permission for plans to be drawn up for the bathhouse. Park commissioners still insisted that the sewer be removed or closed; however, the commissioner of health claimed that the sewer posed no health problems.

Plans for the bathhouse moved forward, and it was completed in the summer of 1912 at a cost of $11,405. The bathhouse was situated directly on top of the sewer, with four feet of soil between the bathhouse footings and the top of the sewer. The mouth of the sewer was only 100 feet from the bathhouse.

The bathhouse was rectangular in shape, built of rusticated concrete block and was situated parallel to the lakeshore. On the side facing west, the gabled roofed structure had a front double-door entrance that was flanked by bay windows and single-door entrances. The beachfront side had a basement ground level entrance and a large open porch on the upper level stretching across the entire building. In 1913, an additional 4.28 acres were purchased that allowed for the installation of a circular drive in front of the bathhouse. Trees were planted and steps were installed around the bathhouse.

What It Was Like

Hickman and his friends didn’t use the bathhouse much. They didn’t like having to walk through a stream of cold water in order to go in or out of the bathhouse. So instead, “we just rolled our outer clothing in a bundle and buried it in the sand,” recalled Hickman.

The bathhouse had a women’s section on the south end and a men’s section on the north end. There was a community dressing room for the children and individual dressing stalls for the “older folk,” recalled Hickman. Street clothes were placed in baskets and an attendant issued a numbered safety pin as a receipt. A refreshment stand was in the open area just east of the building.

The bathing beach itself was located south of the bathhouse to about E. Meredith Street, but later the beach was moved to the north. “With the building of the breakwater and the grading of parkland,” wrote Hickman, “the shore line changed so much that the bathing beach was moved to the north side of the bathhouse.”

A New Bathhouse

In 1929, plans were made to build a new bathhouse. The new bathhouse was intended to serve bathers, as well as be used for general park purposes. However, when the Great Depression hit, construction costs had to be reduced, and construction was delayed until 1933. The architectural firm of Clas & Clas designed the Northern Italian style bathhouse. It is a masonry building with a hipped roof of Italian tile. Situated parallel to the lakeshore, the main façade has a large tower and a semicircular entrance. No longer a bathhouse, today it is known as the South Shore Park Pavilion.

The odor from the Rusk sewer was finally addressed in the 1930s. To stop the flow of wastewater into the lake, the sewer outlet was bulkheaded and the wastewater was directed into new sewer lines that traveled north to Jones Island. The spot of the former sewer outlet, and the old bathhouse, is adjacent to the pavilion to the south. It’s now the site of the tot lot.

Copyright 2010 by Bay View Compass. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.