White Bathing Beach White residents of Washington enjoyed swimming in the Tidal Basin as early as the 1880s. In 1918, the district office of buildings and grounds <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/170">added buildings</a> to make the beach more enjoyable, like a cabana and diving platform. Like other recreational areas in DC, the part of the beach with buildings and diving structures was <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/164">white-only</a>. The Tidal Basin beaches <a href="http://mallhistory.org/items/show/195">closed in 1925</a>. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/npco/item/npc2007006675/">View original</a>. 1918 (opened) 1925 (closed) <a href="/items/browse?advanced%5B0%5D%5Belement_id%5D=38&advanced%5B0%5D%5Btype%5D=is+exactly&advanced%5B0%5D%5Bterms%5D=1920-1949">1920-1949</a>