Monday, October 25, 2010

Jones Beach West Bath House

The West Bath House at Jones Beach, designed by Herbert Magoon (and Robert Moses) c. 1930 in Wantagh. This was the first of the two bath houses to be built and helped fulfill Moses' vision of recreational palaces beside the ocean. The bath house has thousands of lockers, a swimming/diving pool and wading pool, and numerous food concessions. For more information on Robert Moses or the development of Jones Beach, I obviously have to recommend 'The Power Broker' by Robert Caro.





4 comments:

Reggie Darling said...

Very handsome, indeed. I've always admired these civic structures. Somewhat reminiscent of several of the residential colleges at Yale designed by James Gamble Rogers, Trumbull and Calhoun in particular.

Anonymous said...

I always loved going here as a child. I agree with Reggie, many of these public buildings are grand indeed.

Zach L. said...

And grand was their intention. Up to that time most public beaches had wooden sheds with bathrooms and not much else. According to Caro, Moses wanted these buildings so grand that all of the architects he brought to Jones Beach to sketch him some potential designs failed to live up to his expectations. Herbert Magoon was a staffer in his office at the Long Island State Park Commission....and Moses further tweaked Magoon's design to his liking.

Anonymous said...

Art Deco design and a true time capsule that takes one back to an elegant era. On 9-20-2019 at the second-floor bathroom in the west men's bathhouse. I had experienced a paranormal event which one of the bathroom stall doors started to move back and forth on its own.