The 100th Anniversary of the Salt Water Pool

Palisades Amusement Park always boasted of having the world's largest outdoor salt water pool. But did you know that pool first opened to the public in 1913?

Soon after the park was purchased by Nick and Joseph Schenck, the brothers decided they needed something to compete with their nearest competition, Coney Island. Well Coney had rides... Palisades had rides. Coney had games... Palisades had games. Coney had colorful midways... Palisades had colorful midways. But Coney Island had one thing that Palisades Amusement Park lacked... AN OCEAN!

So the Schenck brother decided that since they could not move Palisades Amusement park down the Jersey shore, they would do the next best thing. They would move the Jersey shore to Palisades. In the winter of 1912, they began to construct what would become the world's largest outdoor salt water pool. It was as wide as a city block and three times as long. The one and a half million gallons of saltwater needed for the pool were siphoned from the Hudson River at high tide by enormous pumps. Before entering the pool, the water flowed through six large filters to clear it of any contaminants.

On June 8th, 1913 the large pool officially opened billed to accommodate ten thousand swimmers, the pool was constructed entirely of concrete. Its depth ranged from a few inches to fourteen feet; at the deepest end, diving boards built from hickory timbers lined the sides.  Bathhouses were divided equally among the sexes and provided accommodations for more than two thousand bathers. The park even offered free swimming instructions to all patrons.

The pool became the number one hangout for patrons seeking a refreshing dip in the crystal clear waters of the pool. It remained the most popular attraction at the Park right up to the time it closed in 1971.

This year, we celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Palisades pool. And to capture those memories, the Fort Lee Museum will be presenting an exhibit focused on the pool. This will be in conjunction with the release of a new novel, by the Emmy-Award-winning writer, Alan Brennert. The book Palisades Park is a spellbinding story about a family of dreamers and their lives within the legendary Palisades Amusement Park. The publisher describes the story as:

Growing up in the 1930s, there is no more magical place than Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey—especially for seven-year-old Antoinette, who horrifies her mother by insisting on the unladylike nickname Toni, and her brother, Jack. Toni helps her parents, Eddie and Adele Stopka, at the stand where they sell homemade French fries amid the roar of the Cyclone roller coaster. There is also the lure of the world’s biggest salt-water pool, complete with divers whose astonishing stunts inspire Toni, despite her mother's insistence that girls can't be high divers.

But a family of dreamers doesn't always share the same dreams, and then the world intrudes: There's the Great Depression, and Pearl Harbor, which hits home in ways that will split the family apart; and perils like fire and race riots in the park. Both Eddie and Jack face the dangers of war, while Adele has ambitions of her own—and Toni is determined to take on a very different kind of danger in impossible feats as a high diver. Yet they are all drawn back to each other—and to Palisades Park—until the park closes forever in 1971.

Reading this book is a wonderful experience. And Mr. Brennert will be at the Fort Lee Museum at 7:00PM on April 7, 2013 to kick off his book signing tour of Palisades Park. The Museum will also be hosting several other Palisades Amusement Park events throughout the year. I will keep you posted.