Festivals & Expos

The L Street Brownies take their annual New Year’s Day Polar Plunge

It has been a tradition in Southie since 1904.

Hundreds of revelers rush into the frigid water of Dorchester Bay during a previous plunge.

By Cheryl Fenton

1 minute to read

On New Year’s Day morning, hundreds of L Street Brownies (and those who dare to join them) rush into the icy waters of the Boston Harbor for their annual polar plunge. A tradition in Southie since 1904, revelers taking the plunge brave the elements on Carson Beach wearing everything from traditional bathing suits to tutus to viking helmets to full-on Santa suits. Some even add a charitable element by raising money with their chilly dip.

Founded in 1902 and the country’s second oldest cold water swimming club, The L Street Brownies began at the L Street Bathhouse, where South Boston’s immigrants who lived in tenements without plumbing once bathed. Today’s bathhouse is the Boston Center for Youth & Families Curley Community Center, which is currently closed for renovations with a projected reopening date of fall 2023.

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