Sometimes they’d head to a local pool, and in more exhilarating cases, splash into a waterway, whether they were supposed to be there or not.
“I loved it, but I knew it was frowned upon,” Coll recalled slyly.
The memories followed Coll into adulthood. Now owner of a family framing shop in Conshohocken, Coll says the first thing he ever framed for himself was a picture of his favorite childhood swimming spot. In 2020, he and his father Jack Coll, authors of several historical books about the area, teamed up to write a reminiscence of the popular swimming holes of …
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Sometimes they’d head to a local pool, and in more exhilarating cases, splash into a waterway, whether they were supposed to be there or not.
“I loved it, but I knew it was frowned upon,” Coll recalled slyly.
The memories followed Coll into adulthood. Now owner of a family framing shop in Conshohocken, Coll says the first thing he ever framed for himself was a picture of his favorite childhood swimming spot. In 2020, he and his father Jack Coll, authors of several historical books about the area, teamed up to write a reminiscence of the popular swimming holes of yesteryear.
In the heyday of the 19th century, swimming in area waterways like the Schuylkill and flooded-out quarries was a beloved public pastime. Particularly of interest in Coll’s neck of the woods was Conshohocken’s “Sherry Lake,” originally known as Potts’ Quarry. The spot was a popular swimming and ice-skating destination near Ridge and Butler Pikes, before it was fenced off to the public and converted to a stormwater basin in the 1950s.
During this era, many popular swimming holes and waterways were closed to the public due to pollution and health and safety concerns, Coll said. But these closures also coincided with the rise of the modern swimming pool.
The 1954 shutdown of the Sherry Lake Swim Club led directly to the 1957 opening of the nearby Ply-Mar Swim Club, which, Coll said, remains in operation today. The Marble Hall Swim Club, a popular pool near Ridge and Joshua Road, was even closer to the city. That club closed in the 1990s.
“It was very accessible from the Andorra and Roxborough sections, as well as to residents of Whitemarsh,” Coll said.
While much has changed over the centuries since Northwest Philadelphians and their suburban neighbors began looking to the water to beat the summer heat, plenty of opportunities remain. Cement pools are now the most common splashdown sites, but a dip into a natural body of water can still be found — with a little bit of effort.
Natural swimming destinations
Stefanie Kroll, a former scientist and now executive director of the Riverways Collaboration, a nonprofit focused on recreation in Philadelphia’s urban waterways, said finding out which creeks and rivers are safe — and legal — for swimming can be challenging. A key variable is whether the water meets federal standards for human safety, which can change based on weather. In certain areas, there might not be good data or clear rules.
“What we want to do is give people information to make their own decisions,” Kroll said.
According to her, if all you’re after is a nearby paddle, that’s easier. The Schuylkill River is open for kayaking and rowing north of the Fairmount Dam. The “GoPaddling” app for smartphones shows launch points in the area, such as the East Park Canoe House along Kelly Drive. Kroll’s website, riverways.org, also maps access points and allows newbies to sign up for classes to ensure they’re properly trained.
In addition, the Philadelphia Water Department maintains phillyrivercast.org, a website letting the public know in real-time, whether it’s safe to recreate on the Schuylkill or not.
Swimming is another matter. For several reasons, including pollution, strong currents, and boat traffic, multiple government agencies do not allow swimming in the Delaware River near Philadelphia. In fact, the Philadelphia Water Department’s website, water.phila.gov, states, “swimming is prohibited in all of Philadelphia’s rivers and streams.”
And yes, that includes the Wissahickon Creek and Devil’s Pool.
Sarah Marley, interim executive director of the nonprofit Friends of the Wissahickon, said, “Devil’s Pool is not a designated swimming area, so it is unsupervised, and that alone makes it a hazardous place to swim. But there are many other dangers when swimming at this site. Strong currents can lead to drowning, submerged objects can cause severe injury when jumping into the water, and poor water quality can result in skin infections and/or gastrointestinal distress.”
Further upstream on the Schuylkill in Montgomery County, some have been known to swim in the river, but these are typically experienced groups such as triathletes. Swimming in any natural waterway, especially one with moving currents like those in the Schuylkill, comes with an inherent level of risk.
For those people looking for safer and sanctioned alternatives, Blue Marsh Lake, a little over an hour away in Berks County, operates a swim beach daily during the warm season. Just a little further to the north in the Poconos, Beltzville and Hickory Run State Parks also have public beaches on their lakes.
In New Jersey, the manmade Bellmawr Lake offers swimming not far from the city, and area residents looking for a woodsier experience can travel about 90 minutes to Lake Absegami beach in the Pine Barrens for a refreshing dip in the ecosystem’s tea-colored waters.