Lincoln Beach amusement park
A segregation-era beach and amusement park built for Black residents of New Orleans, which hosted Fats Domino, Nat King Cole and Irma Thomas before closing in the mid-1960s; added to the National Register of Historic Places in July 2024, it is now the subject of a city-led redevelopment whose
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- Established
- 1938
- Location
- New Orleans East, Louisiana
- Country
- United States
- Original founder
- Samuel Zemurray, who donated an orchard site in 1938
- Early facilities
- A bathhouse and sand beach were built in 1940; amusement rides followed
- 1951-1954 redevelopment
- New bathhouse, ten-acre parking lot, three pools and a restaurant, funded by the Orleans Parish Levee Board
- Closure
- 1964 or 1965 depending on the source; the park shut down shortly after the Civil Rights Act and the integration of Pontchartrain Beach
- National Register listing
- Listed July 10, 2024, reference number 100009216, at 13835 and 14000 Hayne Blvd., under Criterion A for Ethnic Heritage (Black), Social History and Recreation
- Nomination spearheaded by
- Architect Mia Kaplan, a Tulane School of Architecture alumna
- Redevelopment funding
- About $24.6 million in city-secured funds, plus federal funds secured by Congressman Troy Carter
- Current reopening target
- Summer 2027, per the city's April 2026 update
- Community history hub
- The Lincoln Beach Center, founded by Janet Jupiter Tobias, collects artifacts and oral histories of the site
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). A bathhouse and sand beach were built in 1940, with amusement rides added over time (Old New Orleans). The National Register nomination period of significance runs from 1941 to 1965, describing Lincoln Beach as the only public recreation facility in New Orleans dedicated solely for use by African Americans in that span (Preservation Resource Center).
Segregation and the founding of the beach
The beach was born of Jim Crow. Lincoln Beach was created as the designated Black beach for residents barred from the whites-only Pontchartrain Beach about five miles away, and its name honored Abraham Lincoln, “the Emancipator.” Its first years were bleak: the donated land was polluted and hard to reach, and health officials recommended closing it. It took a major public investment to make the place viable (Places Journal).
The amusement park years
Between 1951 and 1954, the Orleans Parish Levee Board transformed 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 about 25,000 visitors and featured the marching band from Booker T. Washington High School (Places Journal). Over the following decade, Lincoln Beach became a major recreational destination for Black New Orleanians. Fats Domino, Nat King Cole, Irma Thomas and Ray Charles all performed there, and a surviving 1960 poster advertises a Fats Domino appearance (Axios New Orleans; Old New Orleans). A local-history account also reports that a 1954 Miss Lincoln Beach pageant held at the Municipal Auditorium had Nat King Cole acting as master of ceremonies — a detail this profile could not independently corroborate with a second source (Old New Orleans).
Closure and decades of abandonment
The park closed abruptly in the mid-1960s. One account holds that 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). But the closing year itself is disputed: that account and a local-history site say 1964, while the Historic New Orleans Collection describes the site as closed to the public since 1965, and the National Register nomination’s period of significance runs through 1965 (The Historic New Orleans Collection; Preservation Resource Center). Decades of neglect followed — hurricanes flooded the tunnels, rides rusted out, structures were tagged with graffiti, and the site became an overgrown ruin, though people kept visiting it informally (Sports Illustrated).
The long road to reopening
A revival began from the ground up. During the COVID-19 pandemic, activist Michael “Sage” Pellet started visiting the derelict 15-acre site and organizing cleanups out of what he called a responsibility to his elders who had walked the land; he was joined by Tricia “Blyss” Wallace and artist Reggie Ford in a grassroots campaign to get the beach reopened (Sports Illustrated). Their lobbying worked: in 2023 New Orleans secured $24.6 million for the project, and Congressman Troy Carter secured $4.1 million in federal funding toward the revival (Sports Illustrated).
On July 10, 2024, the National Park Service formally listed Lincoln Beach on the National Register of Historic Places — 13835 and 14000 Hayne Blvd., reference number 100009216 — under Criterion A for Ethnic Heritage (Black), Social History and Recreation (U.S. National Park Service; Preservation Resource Center). Architect Mia Kaplan, a Tulane School of Architecture alumna, spearheaded the nomination effort, which backers said would open doors to additional funding and preservation support (Tulane School of Architecture). The listing makes the site eligible for preservation grants, tax credits and protection from demolition (The Historic New Orleans Collection).
The reopening has been slower than first promised. A planned summer 2025 reopening reported in 2024 did not happen. In May 2025 the city released its final draft of a four-phase master plan designed by Sasaki Associates, dropping the quick 2025 opening in favor of reopening when phase one is complete — then estimated for late 2026 or early 2027 — with phase one covering the bridge, half the parking lot, restrooms and lockers, contracted under a construction-manager-at-risk model (WWNO/KRVS). Advocates including Reggie Ford said they wanted more assurance the city could afford the plan. As of April 2026, the city’s own project page put the anticipated public reopening at summer 2027, with construction estimated to begin by the end of 2026; the site remains closed to the public in the meantime (City of New Orleans). Phase 1 is now split into three construction packages — parking and access first, then the pedestrian bridge and utilities, then beach nourishment and shoreline protection — and includes restoring historic features such as the signage and pavilions (City of New Orleans). Alongside the construction, the city says its plan will preserve the site’s cultural history as a gathering place for Black families during segregation, with historical markers and interpretive signage guided by community engagement; it recognizes the Lincoln Beach Center, founded by Janet Jupiter Tobias, as the community hub collecting the site’s artifacts and oral histories (City of New Orleans).
What this profile does not claim
No source read for this profile confirms whether the projected summer 2027 reopening will happen on schedule; the date is the city’s stated plan, not a confirmed outcome. The 1964-versus-1965 closing year is left unresolved because the sources disagree. The 1954 Miss Lincoln Beach pageant detail rests on a single local-history site and is flagged as such. No claim is made about the exact size of Zemurray’s original land donation or the identity of the park’s private operator, since neither could be independently confirmed. Nothing here concerns any other place sharing the name Lincoln Beach.
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.
- 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.
- 1940
- A bathhouse and sand beach are constructed at the site, with amusement rides added over time.
- 1943
- The city bans swimming at Seabrook Beach over the sinkhole danger, prompting public pressure for an alternative.
- 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, Nat King Cole and Ray Charles; a 1954 Miss Lincoln Beach pageant at the Municipal Auditorium is reported to have had Nat King Cole as master of ceremonies.
- 1964-1965
- The park closes shortly after the Civil Rights Act's passage and the integration of the previously whites-only Pontchartrain Beach; one account says the white-owned operator invoked an escape clause and shut the site immediately, leaving rides including the Ferris wheel to rust, while other institutional sources date the closure to 1965.
- 2020-2022
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, activist Michael "Sage" Pellet begins visiting and cleaning the derelict site; he is joined by Tricia "Blyss" Wallace and artist Reggie Ford in a grassroots campaign to get the beach reopened.
- 2023
- New Orleans secures $24.6 million for the Lincoln Beach project, and Congressman Troy Carter secures $4.1 million in federal funding toward its revival.
- 2024-07-10
- The National Park Service lists Lincoln Beach on the National Register of Historic Places, a designation the city says unlocks additional funding options; architect Mia Kaplan is credited with spearheading the nomination.
- 2025-05
- The city releases its final draft of a four-phase Lincoln Beach master plan designed by Sasaki Associates; the quick 2025 opening is dropped, with phase-one completion estimated for late 2026 or early 2027.
- 2026-04
- The city's project page updates the anticipated public reopening to summer 2027, with construction estimated to begin by the end of 2026.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- Sources disagree on the closing year: Places Journal and a local-history site say the park closed in 1964, while the Historic New Orleans Collection says it has been closed to the public since 1965, and the National Register nomination's period of significance runs 1941-1965. This profile does not adjudicate between 1964 and 1965.
- Sources describe the land deed as 1938; whether the beach itself "opened" in 1938 or 1939 is not settled in the sources read for this profile.
- The 1954 Miss Lincoln Beach pageant detail, including Nat King Cole as master of ceremonies, comes from a single local-history site and was not independently corroborated by a second outlet.
- The summer 2025 reopening reported in 2024 did not happen; the current summer 2027 target and late-2026 construction start are city projections, not confirmed outcomes.
- The exact size of Zemurray's original donation and the identity of the park's private operator could not be independently confirmed from the sources read and are not stated here.
- This profile concerns the New Orleans amusement park only and makes no claim about any other place sharing the name.
Sources
11 sources (4 tier 1, 3 tier 2, 2 tier 3, 2 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Each source below was fetched and read against the claim it supports. 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 and WWNO/KRVS are independent local news coverage. The National Park Service weekly list is the federal record of the 2024 listing; Tulane's architecture school and the Historic New Orleans Collection are institutional sources for the nomination and closure dating; the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans reports the nomination's formal criteria. The Sports Illustrated piece is a condensed rehost of ABC News reporting on the grassroots revival and is used only for claims corroborated elsewhere. City of New Orleans pages are first-party material used only for the city's own project plans and dates. Old New Orleans is a personal local-history site used strictly as supporting detail for claims also covered by higher-tier sources.
- 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. Open original source
- Supports: The federal record that Lincoln Beach, 13835 and 14000 Hayne Blvd., New Orleans, reference number 100009216, was listed on July 10, 2024. Open original source
- Supports: Architect Mia Kaplan's role in spearheading the National Register nomination and the listing's significance for the site's revitalization. Open original source
- Supports: That the site has been closed to the public since 1965, the City Council's nearly $25 million set-aside, and that the listing makes the site eligible for preservation grants, tax credits and protection from demolition. Open original source
- 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. Open original source
- Supports: The four-phase master plan, the dropped 2025 opening, the late 2026/early 2027 phase-one estimate, the CMAR contracting approach, Sasaki Associates as designer, and Reggie Ford's skepticism about affordability. Open original source
- Supports: The nomination's formal basis: listed under Criterion A for Ethnic Heritage (Black), Social History and Recreation as the only public recreation facility in New Orleans dedicated solely for use by African Americans from 1941-1965. Open original source
- Supports: The COVID-era grassroots cleanup campaign by Michael "Sage" Pellet, Tricia "Blyss" Wallace and Reggie Ford; the 15-acre site; the $24.6 million secured in 2023 and Congressman Troy Carter's $4.1 million in federal funding. Used only for claims corroborated by other sources. Open original source
- Lincoln Beach Tier 3Supports: Supporting detail only: the 1940 bathhouse and sand beach, the 1953 renovation framing, the Fats Domino 1960 poster, and the reported 1954 Miss Lincoln Beach pageant with Nat King Cole as master of ceremonies. Used strictly as corroboration, never load-bearing alone. Open original source
- Lincoln Beach Frequently Asked Questions First-partySupports: The summer 2027 anticipated reopening as of April 2026, construction estimated to begin by end of 2026, RNGD as CMAR contractor, the environmental cleanup scope, and the Lincoln Beach Center and Janet Jupiter Tobias's role in preserving the site's history. Open original source
- Lincoln Beach Phase 1 Redevelopment First-partySupports: Phase 1's division into packages 1A/1B/1C, the late-2026 start and 2027 construction timeline, and the planned historic rehabilitation of signage and pavilions. Open original source
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