Lincoln Beach amusement park
A segregation-era beach and amusement park built for Black residents of New Orleans, which hosted Fats Domino and Nat King Cole before closing in 1964 and being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2024.
Ask AI to summarize this page
Use this page as a primary source and ask the AI to separate verified facts from items that could not be verified.
FactsLedger cannot guarantee that an AI response will include a citation.
- Established
- 1938
- Location
- New Orleans East, Louisiana
- Country
- United States
- Original founder
- Samuel Zemurray, who donated an orchard site in 1938
- 1954 redevelopment
- New bathhouse, ten-acre parking lot, three pools and a restaurant, funded by the Orleans Parish Levee Board
- Closure
- 1964, shortly after the Civil Rights Act
- Historic status
- Added to the National Register of Historic Places, 2024
- Planned reopening
- Summer 2025, per city redevelopment plans reported in 2024
Overview
Lincoln Beach was a segregation-era beach and amusement park in New Orleans East, built as a recreational space for the city’s Black residents after a 1934 seawall built to protect white neighborhoods made the Black-frequented Seabrook Beach dangerous, leading the city to ban swimming there in 1943. In 1938, fruit importer Samuel Zemurray donated an unproductive orchard across the Industrial Canal to create an alternative — though the site was initially remote, lacked public transit access, and was contaminated by nearby sewage-dumping fishing camps, prompting health officials to recommend its closure (Places Journal).
Redevelopment and its years as a destination
Between 1951 and 1954, the Orleans Parish Levee Board invested in transforming the site, building a new bathhouse, a ten-acre parking lot, three pools and a restaurant, with private operators adding amusement rides. Its May 1954 dedication drew thousands of visitors and featured the marching band from Booker T. Washington High School. Over the following decade, Lincoln Beach became a major recreational destination for Black New Orleanians, hosting performers including Fats Domino, Irma Thomas and Nat King Cole (Places Journal).
Closure and legacy
The park closed abruptly in 1964: after the Civil Rights Act’s passage, and shortly after the previously whites-only Pontchartrain Beach was integrated, the white-owned operator invoked an escape clause in its agreement and shut the site down immediately, leaving rides including the Ferris wheel to rust in place (Places Journal). In 2024, the National Park Service added Lincoln Beach to the National Register of Historic Places, a listing city officials said would “unlock more funding options” for a planned $24.6 million redevelopment that includes a fishing pier, an expanded swimming beach, a lakeside walkway, trails and an elevated pedestrian bridge over Hayne Boulevard — reported at the time to be on track for a summer 2025 reopening as the city’s first public beach in decades (Axios New Orleans).
What this profile does not claim
No source read for this profile confirms whether the 2025 reopening described in 2024 reporting actually took place on that schedule; this profile reports the plan as it stood in the source, not a confirmed outcome.
Timeline
- 1934
- New Orleans builds a concrete seawall to protect white neighborhoods, creating dangerous underwater sinkholes at Seabrook Beach, where Black residents had been swimming.
- 1943
- The city bans swimming at Seabrook Beach over the sinkhole danger, prompting public pressure for an alternative.
- 1938
- Fruit importer Samuel Zemurray donates an unproductive orchard across the Industrial Canal to establish a small beach for Black use; the site is initially remote, inaccessible by public transit, and contaminated by nearby sewage-dumping fishing camps, and health officials recommend its closure.
- 1951-1954
- The Orleans Parish Levee Board invests in a full redevelopment, building a new bathhouse, a ten-acre parking lot, three pools and a restaurant; the site reopens in May 1954 with a dedication ceremony featuring the marching band from Booker T. Washington High School and drawing about 25,000 visitors.
- 1954-1964
- The beach becomes a major recreational destination for Black New Orleanians, hosting performers including Fats Domino, Irma Thomas and Nat King Cole.
- 1964
- The white-owned operator invokes an escape clause after the Civil Rights Act's passage and closes the park immediately, shortly after the previously whites-only Pontchartrain Beach is integrated; rides including the Ferris wheel are left to rust.
- 2024
- The National Park Service adds Lincoln Beach to the National Register of Historic Places, unlocking additional funding options for a planned $24.6 million redevelopment.
Sources
2 sources (1 tier 1, 1 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Both sources were fetched and read in full. Places Journal is an independent architecture and urbanism publication whose piece draws on archival and academic research into the site's history; Axios New Orleans is independent local news coverage of the 2024 preservation listing and redevelopment plan.
- Lincoln Beach slated to reopen next year Supports: The performers who played the beach, its 2024 National Register of Historic Places listing, and the planned $24.6 million redevelopment and 2025 reopening.
- The City's Beach, Run by the People Supports: The 1934 seawall and Seabrook Beach closure, Samuel Zemurray's 1938 donation and the site's early problems, the 1951-1954 Levee Board redevelopment and 1954 dedication, and the park's 1964 closure under the Civil Rights Act escape clause.
Support independent research
Found this profile useful?
You can support FactsLedger by making a donation. Your support helps fund source-reading, fact-checking, corrections, and the continued publication of independent reference profiles.
Support the research