Good Clean Fun: The Rise and Fall of Cleveland's Bathhouses, 1900-1950
Bathhouse Neighborhoods
The location of public baths in working-class neighborhoods was strategic. Two neighborhoods in particular, Clark Avenue and Orange Avenue, demonstrated how public baths filled an important public void in communities, while their strategic position in neighborhoods away from traditional public venues allowed working-class Clevelander's to take ownership of the public space. The bathhouse, between W. 48th and W. 51st streets respectively, lay in the center of the Clark Neighborhood. To the west of the bathhouse, the Clark Public School was visible between Clark and Kidder avenues. The heart of the neighborhood, the Cleveland ,Cincinnati, and Columbus Railroad, acted as both a barrier between the Clark and Walworth neighborhoods as well as employment for many Southern and Eastern European immigrants. By 1912, new immigrants would have increased population density as they looked for new economic opportunities. These new immigrants would have found positions in companies such as Joseph and Feiss, a powerful company in the garment industry off of W. 53rd street. The neighborhood, once a strong German enclave (evident by the names of streets such as Hamburg and Bergen) would grapple with the issue of swelling immigration. In an attempt to facilitate public health and cleanliness in an increasingly immigrant working-class neighborhood many middle-class citizens banded together to situate a bathing facility on Clark Avenue. The location of the bathhouse on Clark was interesting. It was located near to the public school and residential areas, yet visibly set aside from many of the factories and industries where immigrants would have worked. While created as a public space with a public purpose, the bathhouse appeared to have been a part of the private community and neighborhood.
By 1920, public bathhouses had grown in usefulness and public popularity. Among the bathhouses in Cleveland, the largest and most prominent was the Orange Avenue Bathhouse, also known as the Hiram House Bathhouse. Situated between Orange and Kinsman Avenues, this bathhouse was located in the complex of Hiram House, one of the original Cleveland Settlement houses that had until 1900 operated many facilities on E. 27th street and Orange Avenue. Recognizing a new social and economic commodity in the bathhouse, Hiram opened one of its facilities (next to the gym and auditorium) as a bathhouse. Like the Clark Avenue Bathhouse before it, the Orange Avenue Bathhouse existed in the heart of a rich ethnic working-class community, comprised primarily Southern and Eastern Europeans. While the Consolidated Cartage and Storage Co. and the Motor Freight Station provided new economic opportunities for these immigrants, the demand for public health amidst population swelling facilitated the demand for a public bath as it had on Clark Avenue. While similar, however, the real difference between the two baths according to the maps is time. The 1920 Orange Avenue map clearly depicts the growth of the progressive era's reforming efforts. Surrounded by the bathhouse are Hiram Playground, Hiram Gym and Auditorium, and The Mayflower Public School which offered recreational activities for citizens. While the bathhouse's construction may have been facilitated by a public demand for health and cleanliness in the wake of population swelling, by 1920 on Orange Avenue the bath was part of a complex of recreation. This may indeed highlight that the bathhouse played a significant role in the leisure time of the working classes and experienced a social evolution over time.
