Philadelphia public baths

If you're a scraper, please click the link below :- Note that clicking the link below will block access to this site for 24 hours. Photograph by Stuart Goldenberg. It seems like every culture but ours has some kind of detoxing bath tradition. Luckily, you can find everything from Russian pinewood steam baths to Korean charcoal rooms all around Philly. Check out the four options below for total relaxation:. Exist Dates: Active Active Related Descriptions. Search Elsewhere.

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Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Public Baths of the United States , U. Department of Labor , Join the discussion at a Greater Philadelphia Roundtable or add your nomination online. Public bathing became a civil and social imperative in the Philadelphia region and elsewhere in the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. Following the cholera epidemic of , which devastated the American population, leaving hundreds of thousands of deaths in its wake, including that of President James K.

Polk, it became apparent that cleanliness and personal hygiene were essential to maintain a well-ordered and healthful civilization. During the second half of the nineteenth century people and their governments became aware of the benefits of washing, and the public bathhouse movement was the largest civic effort to meet the growing concerns of squalor in the city.

The practice of bathing in fresh water and in mineral springs began in Europe during the s and s as a product of Enlightenment thinking. Since the middle ages, human bodies in European society were always covered, even while bathing; direct contact to water was generally thought to have been harmful as water could seep into the skin through pores and potentially drown a person from within.

The scientific discoveries of the Enlightenment revealed the healthful benefits of exposing bare skin to air and water, thereby setting a precedent for cleanliness and the practice of bathing, which was retained by European colonists who came to America.

The Public Baths Association oversaw the construction of six public bathhouses throughout Philadelphia, including the Wood Street Bathhouse shown here, starting in However, bathing institutions and facilities were not common in the United States until after the Civil War. The first bathing facilities in the Philadelphia and New Jersey region were located along the Jersey Shore.

Long Branch, Asbury Park, and Cape May became wildly popular destinations for public bathing during the s. Prized for their luxurious hotels and resorts, these small ocean towns became centers of recreation for affluent patrons to breathe the salt air and bathe in the refreshing Atlantic tides, escaping the bustle and grime of urban centers like Philadelphia or New York City.

The pleasures of resort towns were, however, available only those who could afford to pay the price of luxury. Those who lacked the money and leisure time to travel to the shore bathed illegally in local rivers, docks and wharves. Until the second half of the nineteenth century, urban poor lacked the facilities and services to keep themselves clean.

Urban slums grew exponentially through the mid- to late nineteenth century, as immigrants flooded northeastern urban centers that lacked facilities and services to accommodate their growing populations. Many newly arrived Eastern and Central European immigrants lived near the Delaware River in the densely populated areas of Southwark and Northern Liberties.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, overcrowded northeastern cities with minimal indoor plumbing were struck with a new kind of problem: keeping citizens clean. By the s, the river was too polluted and the floating baths were closed. In search of another solution, the City planned public baths in densely populated neighborhoods. Philadelphia was an early leader in the realm of municipal swimming pools. The notion was that swimming during warm weather months would lead to better hygiene.

By the s, their popularity caused occasional rioting, when swimmers were denied entry due to crowding. Eventually, reformers launched a private charity called the Public Baths Association to provide year-round bathing facilities beyond the average swimming pool, but only a few of these were opened.

Though the vast majority of these structures are now lost, one in particular still stands today under the EL on North Front Street, just below Thompson Street. Construction was slow, considering the small size of the building. Electrical lines were installed in The Gray and Dormer Plumbing Company installed the water lines and drains in Public bath houses at the corners of 12th and Reed and 3rd and Queen—both long gone—opened at the same time.

Whoever did the design work in fact did a pretty good job. A large brick arch provides a grand entrance, the front door being set back behind it. The facade is decorated with patterns, sculpture, and a few limestone details. Unlike many of the others of its type, this particular bath was completely indoors.

Its roof had a raised section in the middle, a long rectangular segment with windows on all sides.