Edgewater Park Beach is located along the Cleveland Memorial Shoreway west of downtown Cleveland. In its early years the park appears to have been open to African Americans but not well used. In 1908, the Cleveland Gazette reported, “A few ladies of the East End held a picnic at Edgewater park last Thursday afternoon. Our people ought to use the parks more, especially Gordon’s.” For much of its history, however, it was racially exclusionary, both for swimmers and boaters. African Americans had to go to Lorain and Sandusky because Cleveland lakefront, including Edgewater, was barred to them for launching boats into the mid-1950s.
Additional information coming soon.
Resources
- Cleveland Gazette. August 8, 1908.
- “Councilmen Defeat Separate Boat Docks,” Call & Post. August 6, 1955.
- “Edgewater Park.” Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. case.edu/ech/articles/e/edgewater-park.
- Raponi, Richard. “Edgewater Park.” Cleveland Historical. clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/121.
- Richardson, Marty. “Let’s Have Some Sports.” Call & Post. June 2, 1951.