An abandoned New Orleans beach, originally created for black bathers during segregation, is being reborn. This time, it’s open to everyone.
Lincoln Beach, named after Abraham Lincoln, “the emancipator,” is a 15-acre beach in New Orleans that opened in the late 1930s. It was created to enforce Jim Crow laws that prevented blacks from going to Pontchartrain Beach, which was then reserved for whites.
Located just a few miles east of downtown, Lincoln Beach would become a safe space for black residents. The haven featured swimming pools, amusement rides, a bathhouse, and a restaurant, and even featured live entertainment from artists like Fats Domino and Nat King Cole.
“Lincoln Beach is a place that recognizes Black history and culture, but also brings everyone together,” Lincoln Beach climate justice organizer and activist Michael “Sage” Pellet said in an interview. “It’s a much more beautiful thing to see.”
Community members unite to revitalize Lincoln Beach.
Sage Michael Pellet
Jamilah Peters-Muhammad, a 75-year-old community elder, remembers visiting the beach on Sundays with her father.
“From the time it opened to the time it closed, we rode rides and ate hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy,” Peters-Muhammad told ABC News. “Lincoln Beach was our happy place.”
Segregation ended in 1964, and so did Lincoln Beach. Once a black oasis, the property has slowly become an eyesore with rusting rides, graffiti-strewn structures, overgrown weeds and tunnels filled with water and trash after years of neglect and hurricane damage. But that hasn’t stopped some from visiting the shuttered site, turning the abandoned space into a weekend playground.
In the spring of 2020, during the COVID pandemic, Pellet began frequenting the beach and reflecting on the historical significance of the space and the healing power of water. This led him on a four-year crusade to revitalize Lincoln Beach. He began by dumping trash, removing toxic vegetation and draining the land.
“I felt a deep sense of responsibility to my elders – who once walked this land – to beautify it,” Pellet said. “Not only do they pick up trash, but they also organize the community.”
A few months later, Tricia “Blyss” Wallace and artist Reggie Ford joined forces with Pellet to create a grassroots campaign to reopen the historic space.
New Orleans activists are working to revitalize a formerly segregated beach that was once a “black oasis.”
Sage Michael Pellet
Organizing quickly, Pellet and Wallace co-founded a nonprofit organization, New Orleans for Lincoln Beach (NOLB), created a Facebook page that attracted thousands of supporters, and posted signs on the property declaring the beach a Black heritage site.
Ford, who also worked to keep the place clean, used his Instagram page, which has more than 70,000 followers, to spread the word about the initiative. Their collective efforts to build community and political support have become a movement.
At the same time, the city also had its eyes on the beach. Over the years, several parties attempted to redevelop the site, but in the summer of 2020, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell launched an assessment to explore ways to reopen the beach.
While the city waited for the report’s findings, Pellet and Wallace met with the mayor. Cantrell created the Lincoln Beach Community Advisory Board and appointed Wallace as its chair. The nonprofit NOLB was appointed to three of the seven seats, demonstrating how activism can influence policy.
New Orleans activists are working to revitalize a formerly segregated beach that was once a “black oasis.”
Sage Michael Pellet
Last year, the city was able to secure $24.6 million in funding for the redevelopment project. Earlier this year, it was announced that U.S. Congressman Troy Carter secured $4.1 million in federal funding for the Lincoln Beach redevelopment, which will be used to build a pedestrian bridge. Carter credits the work of activists in the city’s victory.
“Their dedication helped make this vision a reality, and their work is an inspiration to us all,” Carter told ABC News.
Pellet says his vision for the beach was clear from the beginning. “We’re going to work with our elected officials, who are the stewards of our money,” he recalls. “We’re going to work together with a comprehensive community vision and restore this beach to our community.”
Pellet explains that there are four touchpoints for the redevelopment of Lincoln Beach: water, economic development, ecosystem and therapy.
New Orleans is a port city like Miami and Los Angeles, but it has a complicated relationship with water.
“Being surrounded by water, with no access points, is part of the structural discrimination,” Pellet explains.
Even though the city is surrounded by the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, many people feel disconnected from water. For some, Hurricane Katrina, storms, and frequent flooding have created a fear of water, and there are few places in the city to counteract that feeling.
Lincoln Beach was originally created to support Jim Crow laws.
Sage Michael Pellet
Pellet said a beach with recreational water activities could create new revenue streams and generate new jobs for the city’s youth, boosting economic development in eastern New Orleans. Last month, the National Park Service designated Lincoln Beach a national historic site, which makes it eligible for tax credits and federal heritage preservation grant programs.
Lincoln Beach is surrounded by trees, insects, fish, birds and water. Fireflies and hummingbirds coexist in harmony. The ecosystem doesn’t just survive, it thrives and thrives on life. “It’s the only place in New Orleans where you can walk through a forest, touch sand and walk right into the water,” Wallace says.
The city recently selected Sasaki as its design firm, and with regular community feedback, it is in the planning stages. Design concepts such as a waterfront restaurant, rooftop pool and drive-in theater are being decided. The first phase of reopening is expected next year.
Community members unite to revitalize Lincoln Beach.
Sage Michael Pellet
“It’s not about bringing back a beach,” Pellet says. “It’s about uniting people through civic engagement.” [and] civic empowerment, because we need to have a stake in our own city.
Studies have shown that waterscapes are beneficial for psychological and mental health. Water has therapeutic properties: “Once you get in there, it’s like, ‘Let me take a little more time for myself,’” Wallace says. “Let me take some time for myself.”
The beach is meant to be a sanctuary for everyone, young and old.
Lavonte Lucas, 24, of New Orleans, says he’s excited about the future.
“I hope this will be an opportunity to bridge the gap between younger and older generations in terms of how we interact with each other in recreational spaces,” he said.
He’s not alone. Peters-Muhammad is also looking forward to reuniting with his parents. “I can’t wait to take my grandchildren to the beach and share their stories of segregation, integration and how precious the beach was to us.”
