The Town of Dedham is currently conducting a survey of residents to gather ideas for the future use of the transfer station site off Washington Street. Built as an incinerator in 1961, the facility was closed in 2019 and currently serves as DPW storage. But did you know it was built on land that once served a much different purpose?
As you can see, a bath house once stood on the site and Dedhamites flocked there for over half a century to cool off in the waters of Mother Brook. The 1947 view shows the bath house built in 1925 after the original one from 1898 burned down two years earlier. The popular spot was staffed with lifeguards and swim instructors, and swim meets and games capped the season at summer’s end. The swimming area was occasionally dredged to create a real old- fashioned swimming hole, and the beach area was regularly maintained. The NY, NH & H railroad tracks ran northwesterly from Dedham Square under Washington Street across what is now the Dedham Mall parking lot. Brave (also reckless) swimmers would sometimes dive off the railroad bridge, despite the diving platform supplied by the town (see below).
Rumors began circulating in the late 40s that the water had become polluted, and the beach and bath house closed for good after the summer of 1952. The town sold a portion of the land in 1955, and the incinerator was approved in April 1960, with construction beginning the following year. While the days of swimming in local waterways are well past, it was a cherished summer activity until the mid-twentieth century, best summed up in this transcript column from July, 1925:
“Every normal child just naturally seeks the water, and swimming is the art that should be acquired by all…And just as long as we support our bath house and just as long as we see these young people sporting in the water, we are sure we have done something, locally, that childhood may be made happy.“
If you are a Dedham resident, you have until Friday March 15 to take the survey. Here is the link:
Jim Parr
Dedham Tales 