At the end of the 1800s, New York City docked floating pools, known as baths, along the Brooklyn water front to provide relief from the summer heat.  They were protected spaces to swim in the river. 

Bath No. 4 was docked at the foot of Conover Street. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac of 1903 reported that the 5 Brooklyn baths accommodated 1,000,000 during the June thru September season.

Unfortunately, in 1910 a report of the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission said: “it was impossible to locate bathing establishments at a safe distance from sewer outlets.”