Clark Avenue Public Baths

Side A: In the early 20th century, the City of Cleveland began opening public bath houses as a way to address the unsanitary living conditions of its overcrowded immigrant neighborhoods. Opened in January 1908, the Clark Avenue Bath House was Cleveland’s third public bath house. It cost $32,000 to build and was designed by prominent Cleveland architect Charles F. Schweinfurth. The semi-Colonial building featured heavy Ionic columns that framed the two entrances marked for “Men” and “Women” overhead. Clark Avenue Bath House had 35 private shower “cabinets,” two group showers, locker rooms, and a gymnasium with a spectator gallery. By 1921, seven such bath houses served the city. Today, five remain and four continue to offer public services to their neighborhoods as Neighborhood Resource and Recreation Centers. Side B: Cleveland’s bath houses created important social gathering spaces for their diverse immigrant communities. The Clark Avenue neighborhood included residents from the Central and Eastern European countries of Germany, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Slovenia, and Poland. The bath house gymnasium was a hub of social activities that helped to connect and mix these immigrant groups. In its 1918 Annual Report, the City of Cleveland reported that 21,247 men, women, and children attended the 22 class offerings at Clark Avenue Bath House. These classes included dance lessons, physical training, and organized team sports. Monthly community dances, also held in the gymnasium, deepened the social and personal connections made at the facility. Weekly medical clinics, providing heart and lung check-ups, further cared for the health of its diverse community.