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“The doors swung open, and from that moment until the day had worn far into the night the two plunges were alive with human fish,” it was reported. Howell credits the bathhouse’s unusually long survival in Reno to a similarly tolerant attitude popular among Nevadans. Daugherty says that when he bumps into customers out in public or in social situations—he’s involved with the charity organization Silver Dollar Court, for example—that they often seem embarrassed or awkward. It’s off Keystone Avenue on Second Street, and many Renoites pass it regularly without a second glance.
Millennium Hotel could be blighted, acquired with eminent domain
That day came in August 1907, when Public Bath House No. 1 opened near the intersection of Carr and 10th in north St. Louis city. Over the next thirty years, St. Louis would build five more. Public Bath House No. 1 contained forty-one showers and one tub bath for men. Strictly divided by separate entrances, the women’s side of the bathhouse had fifteen showers and two tubs. Using the baths were free, but soap and a towel could be rented for one cent if a visitor did not bring their own. Modest bathers could even rent a bathing suit if they so desired.
The lost bath houses of Los Angeles
But the Santa Monica Hotel Bath House soon had a formidable North Beach neighbor in the form of the grand Arcadia Hotel, between what is today Colorado Avenue and Pico Boulevard. The luxurious Arcadia, catering to the elite of Southern California, opened in 1887 and included a large bath house, complete with a hot salt-water plunge. In the meantime, his wife ran the bath house throughout the 1870s and early ’80s.
RULES FOR STEVE’S BATHHOUSE
We ensure privacy and maintain a clean and safe environment at all times. In 1937, the final public bathing facility was built at 1120 St. Louis Avenue in north city. It serviced 170,000 patrons in the first full year of operation. It would be the last public bath house constructed in St. Louis and the last one to remain open.
Over the years, numerous accidental drownings were reported both in the plunges and the nearby ocean. The private changing rooms, rented by the hour or the day, were perfect for assignations, criminal behavior, and occasionally, mysterious deaths. In 1907, a man named Jon C. Riebe was found dead and badly scalded in the bathtub of his private changing room at the Ocean Park Bath House.
Originally called Club Baths, the bathhouse is one of the oldest such places in the country, part of a West Coast network of bathhouses where gay and bisexual men could meet one another without fear of prejudice or the false romances of alcohol inebriation. “[Daugherty] has been a long time community partner in prevention efforts,” says Howell. She adds that the bathhouse is a point of contact for a community that might not be willing to go to other venues for testing, like the county or Planned Parenthood or even their own physician, because they don’t want to discuss their sexual activity. The bathhouse isn’t subject to any legally mandated health regulations, so Daugherty’s insistence on safe sex and free STD tests comes from his own willing initiative.
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It was nice clean and my wife and I enjoyed to experience of the place. It was really cool to have openly bi and gay people playing in the open. Steve Daugherty, the eponymous proprietor, is an amiable guy, with a friendly smile, a perfectly coiffed head of gray hair, and a quick, comfortable way of moving and talking.
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It became standard for homes to be built and refitted with private bath facilities. By the 1960′s, the need for public bath houses had all been eliminated. The final facility to remain open in St. Louis, Bath House #6, ceased operations in 1965. Steve’s Bathhouse is a safe meeting place for gay, straight and bisexual men and women. Residing in the same location since 1962 we are the oldest bathhouse in the country.
STEVE’S BATHHOUSE
Since opening in 1962, Steve’s Bathhouse has always prided itself on being a safe meeting place for gay, straight and bisexual men and women.. Still residing in the same location, we are proud to be the oldest bathhouse in the country. The popularity of online dating sites has increased, but the value of a personal, face-to-face meeting is as strong as ever. At Steve’s, your privacy is always assured and you can always count on a clean and safe environment.
Kinney donated part of Ocean Park to the YMCA, “so they could have nice, wholesome, Christian non-alcoholic beachfront,” Fresco says. That same year, the LA Times announced the construction of a YMCA. Complex with a 50-room bathhouse on the beach near the Santa Fe Depot. But Mrs. Waller’s former establishment (now managed by the appropriately named Mr. Suits) continued to increase in popularity with Angelenos of all classes. “The plunge in the North Beach Bath House is becoming very popular with the young people, who take absolute possession of it every afternoon, and furnish untold amusement to the spectators, who enjoy immensely their antics,” the LA Times reported in 1890.
My initial goal was just to find where the original six bath houses were located, but they provided much more. Notably, Landmarks set me up with an article from the Fall 1989 issue of Gateway Heritage magazine titled “The Politics of Public Bathing”. It became the main source of much of the information in this post. If you read this blog regularly, please consider becoming a member of Landmarks or donating to them. They are a wonderful organization that strives for historic preservation in St. Louis.
Though it used to be busiest during the graveyard hours, it’s now busier during the day. Cameron Collins' blog Distilled History was recently named Best Personal Blog in Riverfront Times 2013 Web Awards. Grime was especially noticeable in the slums and tenements of urban American cities. In St. Louis, a survey taken in 1908 showed that in the poorest neighborhoods, only one bathtub existed for every 200 residents. In the densely populated tenements where more than a quarter of the population lived, one bathtub existed for every 2,479 residents. To make matters worse, bathtubs were not always used for their intended purpose.
Toward the end of the 19th century, social reformers led a movement to improve the quality life of all Americans, not just the wealthy. At the center of this movement was a push to improve the living and working conditions for poor people living in urban slums. Since being dirty and being poor were seen as going hand in hand, promoting cleanliness became a part of that movement.
Back in those days, Daugherty says, local law enforcement was no help against discrimination and harassment. But nowadays, his relationship with local law enforcement is much more amicable. Another demographic that frequents the bathhouse is crossdressers. Absolutely no drugs or alcohol or anyone under theinfluenceof drugs or alcohol permitted in the club.5. Steve’s Bathhouse is not responsible for lost orstolen items.6.
It’s difficult to overstate the malodorous condition of St. Louis in the late 19th century. If you lived in this city 125 years ago, you probably reeked. Being one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the country, St. Louis was congested, filthy, and fetid. The air was filled with soot, streets were filled with horse manure, and noxious fumes wafted from inadequate methods of waste disposal. “It’s a contained environment where there’s condoms and this expectation of safer sex everywhere, versus you opening up your home to somebody and you have no idea what’s going to happen,” she says.
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