The Inlet Bridge
While I’m telling you about this bridge, go ahead and make your way to the middle, and set your gaze on the Washington monument. That’s the 555-foot obelisk honoring the United States First President. It was completed back in 1884 and it’s been dominating the skyline ever since! Ok, now that you’re out here, how about this basin?! This lovely body of water is actually a man made inlet. The story of the Basin goes back to 1881, there was a terrible flood that year and water covered the already stinky National Mall. This area used to be called the Potomac Flats, it was a sewage-filled marsh. A breeding ground for malaria. Aesthetics and disease aside, the waterfront was too silty to allow for easy shipping, which is pretty important when you’re trying to transition from a sleepy southern town to a bustling, cosmopolitan city! So, the Army Corps of Engineers began to dredge out the Potomac River, the silt and mud was placed behind retaining walls creating over 700 brand new acres of land, land on which many of our National memorials now stand—including Lincoln. The land was nice but the basin itself had a job to do, the rush of water from the changing tides would flush silt from Washington Channel, and keep it navigable for all that shipping. Engineers installed gates at the entrance and exit of a newly formed pond. These gates allow the pond to fill from the river at high tide, and at low tide empties through the Outlet Bridge into the Washington Channel which drains into the Anacostia River near it’s convergence with the Potomac. The seawall and the bridge you’re standing on were completed in 1940 by a 2-man firm from the Midwest. Archie Alexander and Maurice Repass met in college playing football at the University of Iowa and went on to build a very successful business, with clients across the United States. Alexander was black and Repass was white. Alexander & Repass hired both white and black workers for their projects, and they worked together in mixed crews, which at that time in American history was almost unheard of.
While the Tidal Basin was created to harness the power of the Potomac and flush silt and sediment from the channel, it has also been a place of public recreation since its genesis. From mid-March through October, paddle boats are available for rent. It’s a fantastic loop to jog if that’s your thing. A wonderful spot to bring a blanket and book, that’s my thing.
For a few summers in the early 20th century, it was even a beach! Off to your right, right about where the Jefferson Memorial now stands was the Tidal Basin Bathing Beach. A manmade bank of sand was funded by Congress and the beach opened in August 1918. There were swimming lessons and swim contests, fancy dive-offs at the multi-tiered high dive. Canoe races and tug of war. There were umbrellas and lounge chairs, this was a premier social hub—if you were white. Like most of the city, the beach was strictly segregated. Like many parts of the District in those days, the beach was strictly segregated…which actually led to the beach’s undoing. Congress was all set to fund a separate beach in DC for African-Americans, but a group of Southern senators torpedoed the effort. Instead of integrating the Tidal Basin Bathing Beach and providing a recreation space for all, lawmakers had the property dismantled in 1925.
The tidal Basin itself was an engineering feat, but this little inlet has gained fame far beyond its function and become an iconic public landscape. Both sprawling and defined, the space allows visitors to explore individuals and events that have shaped United States history and celebrates what we value as a nation. Flowering Cherry Trees aside, this is a site to see!
When it’s safe to cross, meet me across the street, in the center of the bridge on the other side.
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