Nile Swim Club in Yeadon was designated a historic site by Pennsylvania recently, receiving its own historical marker at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, writes Nathaniel Lee for The Philadelphia Tribune.

The club, at 513 South Union Avenue, was the first Black-owned swim club in the nation.

In 1957, Zoe Mask, Carson Puriefoy, and Elmer Stewart, who were Black, were denied membership at the whites-only Yeadon Swim Club.

So they built their own club, which opened in 1959.

“They wanted us to join a swim club, but unfortunately we weren’t able to join the pool that was in Yeadon at that time,” said Denise Stewart, daughter of Elmer Stewart. “So our parents, along with other friends and neighbors, decided to do something about it, and the rest is history.”

Yeadon Mayor Rohan K. Hepkins noted that Nile Swim Club is still here today, but that the Yeadon Swim Club is gone.

Nancy Moses, chair of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, dedicated the marker.

“Each one celebrates Pennsylvania’s most important people, places, and events that have made this Commonwealth so very special,” she said.

Read more in The Philadelphia Tribune about the Nile Swim Club’s place in history.