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Summit Lake swimming area declared unsafe in the 1930s
By Mark J. Price
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Monday, Jun 22, 2009
The sun was hot, the water was cool and the price was free. Not much else mattered to Akron's young swimmers at Summit Lake during the Depression.
In the sweltering summers of the 1920s and 1930s, children flocked to Margaret Park beach.
The sandy resort was on the lake's northern shore, between Margaret Park Elementary School and the Ohio & Erie Canal, and was close enough to Summit Beach Park for bathers to hear the roller coasters. During those years, it was the city's only public swimming area.
Summit Lake sparkled on sunny days, luring swimmers, boaters and picnickers, but something foul lurked just beneath the surface.
Akron Service Director E.A. Kemmler posted a sign in June 1934: ''WATER UNFIT FOR BATHING — KEEP OUT.''
Once the main source of Akron's drinking water, the lake grew polluted with industrial waste and raw sewage as the city's population skyrocketed in the early 20th century. Summit Beach's owners decided to discontinue lake swimming after they opened the chlorinated, mosaic-tile Crystal Pool in 1919.
Others believed the lake was still safe.
In 1923, the Margaret Park Bathing Beach Association sold stock at $10 a share to establish
a swimming area on the western shore. The businessmen didn't seem to mind that Ohio Health Department tests indicated a high presence of bacteria. The beach was open for five years before the operation was moved to city land off West South Street.
Akron officials agreed to spend more than $10,000 — about $125,000 in today's money — to build a municipal beach that included a floating dock, bathhouses, hot dog stand and first-aid station.
About 1,000 enthusiastic people attended the dedication ceremony in July 1929.
''It is just the beginning of development here,'' Akron Mayor Lloyd Weil told the crowd. ''We are not going to be selfish with our beach, nor are we going to forget it, now that it has been put in shape.''
Councilman Ed Rose wore a swimsuit to the event. ''I am out here with my suit on to show the board of health that I wasn't afraid of the water in Summit Lake,'' he said.
The ceremony featured a beauty pageant won by South High School student Florence Negley, 16, a blonde described as ''the most physically perfect contestant.'' Youths also competed in swim meets and speedboat races. The South Akron Board of Trade donated prizes.
Margaret Park beach proved to be a success, averaging more than 1,000 swimmers a day during the season's peak. Admission was free, although adults could check their clothes at the bathhouse for 10 cents. Bathing suits were required to ''conform to the rules of decency.''
The resort operated from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., with Red Cross lifeguards Sam Spartage and Frank Marcinkoski in charge. Two guards kept watch from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., while four guards served from 4 to 8 p.m.
In June 1930, the beach closed for a week. A Kenmore sewer pipe broke, pouring filth into the canal near the lake's entrance. Health officials didn't want to take any chances.
It was a recurring problem. More than a dozen sewers emptied into Summit Lake.
Dead fish floated to the surface. A thin, oily sludge coated some swimmers when they emerged from the water. Some parents wondered why their children developed rashes.
Still, the kids kept returning. Summers of the 1930s were notoriously hot, and air conditioning didn't exist at home. The beach was free at a time when money was scarce.
City officials grew increasingly concerned about the state-owned lake's pollution.
''The water is a potential menace to public health,'' warned Dr. Melville D. Ailes, city health director. ''It contains sewage and may be the cause any time of an epidemic.''
In June 1934, the City Council approved legislation to close the beach. Service Director Kemmler enforced the order by posting ''KEEP OUT'' signs at Margaret Park.
As temperatures neared the 90s, Akron residents howled in protest. The most vocal critic was former Councilman Rose, who called the contamination claim ''a lot of hooey.''
''I wouldn't be afraid to go swimming in Summit Lake,'' Rose told the Beacon Journal. ''When I was a kid, we went swimming in places a hundred times worse than Margaret Park beach, and nothing happened. There wasn't any meddlesome, nosy health department to butt into things in those days.''
He demanded a council that had enough ''intestinal fortitude'' — perhaps not the best choice of words — to fight for the public.
''Instead of closing the bathing beaches and chasing the kids out of the water in this hot weather, council should suspend its own operations, run the health department out of the building and shut down City Hall,'' Rose fumed.
Remarkably, the city backed down.
''I know the condition of Summit Lake is bad,'' Akron Mayor Isaac S. Myers said in 1934. ''But if it is possible to remedy that condition and preserve the Margaret Park beach for the boys and girls, we shall make every effort to do so.''
Health Director Ailes conceded that if the city added chlorine to the water, it would ''remove some of the objectionable features'' at Summit Lake.
The ''no swimming'' signs were removed that July.
Each day, a city worker used a rowboat to drag a 50-pound bag of chlorine through the water. Currents diluted the chemical, but tests revealed that bacterial levels were lower.
Margaret Park beach remained open for five more years.
It didn't shut down until 1940, when the Akron Recreation Department ran out of money to chlorinate the water and maintain the buildings.
After the park folded, hundreds of young people still climbed around the fence each day to frolic in the sand or go for a swim. Finally, the city posted a guard in 1942 to shoo away trespassers.
That seemed to do the trick.
The battle of the beach was over. The bathers surrendered.
Mark J. Price is a Beacon Journal copy editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3850 or send e-mail to mjprice@thebeaconjournal.com.
The sun was hot, the water was cool and the price was free. Not much else mattered to Akron's young swimmers at Summit Lake during the Depression.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Akron, OH
Posted 08:11 AM, 06/22/2009
So the lake is owned by the state and has been allowed to sit and fester for decades. How about some present day testing of water, lake bottom sediment and fish/wildlife to see what condition the lake is in the 21st century. And then get the state to clean it up.
Akron, Oh
Posted 09:58 AM, 06/22/2009
got no money to clean up the lake..
don't eat any fish from that lake..
not so sure I'd take a dip in it either..
Posted 12:42 PM, 06/22/2009
Thanks for the story Mark; I always wondered about that lake and the park I had heard a little about.
Akron, Oh
Posted 01:15 PM, 06/22/2009
My great grandfather met my great grandmother at that lake when they were teenagers in the 20's. Glad it got to me open then, so I could be here today!
Akron, OH
Posted 02:19 PM, 06/22/2009
Evidently, only alligators can survive that lake today.
Akron, OH
Posted 04:37 PM, 06/22/2009
Someone could write a very similar article about the entire neighborhood too.
Akron, Oh
Posted 05:46 PM, 06/22/2009
Wow, No overweight teens back in the 40s. No fast foods or parents too lazy to make them eat healthy.
Posted 10:53 PM, 06/22/2009
People still float around in Summit lake today, they just happen to be dead. Cool story though.
Posted 12:32 AM, 06/23/2009
That would be great to revive that lake, but please charge for admission. I can't imagine what would show up there if it was free!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 10:45 AM, 06/23/2009
According to EPA all fish from summit lake are safe to eat except catfish and carp http://www.epa.state.oh.us/dsw/fishadvisory/waters/Summit.html
Antioch, IL
Posted 10:01 PM, 06/23/2009
I don't know I grew up in Akron and I can not ever remember summit lake being anything but unhealthy for anything...I would not eat the fish nor would I swim in it. Of course I really don't know now since I do not live in Akron anymore. I think on the other hand if it is such a problem then why isn't something done about...c'mon with the mosquitoes carrying viruses such as west nile virus and all. Why would the polluted water be left to harm the envirement if it is that bad...oh yeah I know it is a burial dumping ground for unsolved crimes right...
Posted 02:52 PM, 07/01/2009
A burial dumping ground for unsolved crimes??? I didn't notice any Italians here . . .
