Archive for August 22nd, 2008
By William Burg
Before the days of air conditioning, Sacramentans used any available means to beat the heat. Homes were designed with broad porches and plenty of windows for ventilation, but the easiest way to keep cool was to find the nearest body of water and jump in. In order to provide a more genteel environment for swimming than leaping into the river, Judge Charles E. McLaughlin formed the Sacramento Riverside Bath and Park Company and built a large enclosed bathing house on Riverside Road, about three miles south of the old city limits at the Y Street Levee (now Broadway). Read more »