Swimming in the Eau Claire River, 1935 to 1942
by Armond Beguhn
During the summer months, swimming was only done on the south side of the river, accessed through what is now Boyd Park. The north side of the river was quite often polluted with animal waste from the Drummond Meat Packing Company, which was upriver on the northside.
Above the beach were boys and girls bath houses. These were maintained by Mr. Herman Piesch, who was employed by the city. The bath houses did not have showers. For diving purposes, we dove off of a pile of logs next to the river.
My swimming was cut short in 1942, due to my enlisting in the United States Army Air Corps, for the duration of WWII. In late 1942, the Gillette Tire Company, which is now Banbury Place, shifted from making tires and tubes to producing goods for the war.
ECPD Non-emergency Phone
I love this glimpse into the past, but amused by the belief that the animal waste only polluted the north side of the river.
Soooo…. Why doesn’t this sort of thing happen today? We should figure out a way to get this back…
Yeah, this would be amazing to have back. I will have to poke around on the banks of the river there to see how access could be regained. I think a lot of fill was brought in for bank stabilization after the new pedestrian bridge was built — if only this could have been done as part of that project.