An abandoned New Orleans beach originally created for Black beachgoers during segregation is being resurrected. This time, it is for everyone. Lincoln Beach, named after the “Emancipator” Abraham Lincoln, is a 15-acre site in New Orleans that opened in the late 1930s.
It was created to uphold Jim Crow, keeping Black people from visiting the then white-only Pontchartrain Beach. Located in the east, miles from the center of the city, Lincoln Beach would become a safe space for Black residents. The haven was adorned with swimming pools, carnival rides, a bathhouse and restaurant, and even featured live entertainment from performers like Fats Domino and Nat King Cole.
“Lincoln Beach is a place that recognizes Black history and culture, but it also brings all people together,” said Michael “Sage” Pellet, a climate justice organizer and Lincoln Beach activist, in an interview. “That's a much more beautiful thing to see.” Community elder Jamilah Peters-Muhammad, 75, remembers visiting the beach on Sundays with her father.
“From the time it opened to the time it closed, we rode the rides, and ate hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy,” Peters-Muhammad told ABC News. “Lincoln Beach was our happy place.” MORE: The uncertain future of a historic LGBTQ+ safe space: New York City's People's Beach Segregation ended in 1964, and so did Lincoln Beach.
Once a Black oasis, the property slowly became an eyesore with rusted rides, structures strewn with graffiti, overgrown w.