American Beach, A Casualty Of Desegregation
Last week, in my entry concerning desegregation, I mentioned that the unintended victims of the Civil Rights Movement were the all black clubs, restaurants, hotels, and amusements.
I never really knew these existed until I ran across a license plate holder advertising American Beach in Florida. It referred to American Beach as the “Negro Ocean Playground”. I was quite intrigued by this and began doing a little research into the subject.
License Plate Holder From American BeachAs it turns out, American Beach was quite the swinging place in the ‘40’s and ‘50’s playing host to numerous celebrities including: folklorist Zora Neale Hurston, singer Billie Daniels, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles, Billy Eckstein, Hank Aaron, Joe Louis, and actor Ossie Davis.
The story of American Beach starts in 1935 when Florida’s first African American millionaire, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, bought two hundred acres of beach front between Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island Plantation.
At that point in time beaches were for “whites only” and Lewis developed the property originally for use by the employees of his Afro-American Life Insurance Company. He began to sell lots to other African Americans and soon the beach included hotels, restaurants and nightclubs as well as homes and other businesses. People came from all over the South to play in the ocean, dine in the restaurants, and pack the clubs to watch musicians like Ray Charles and Duke Ellington perform.
The beginning of the end came in 1964 when hurricane Dora struck. Many of the homes and businesses were destroyed by the storm. The near fatal blow came soon after when segregation ended. No longer the lone beach option for African Americans there was no need to travel so far to get to American Beach. Businesses closed, homes fell into disrepair and the once popular resort nearly became a thing of the past.
Eighty of the original two hundred acres were sold to developers before the historical significance of the site was recognized. Efforts were made to preserve as much of the history of American Beach as possible. In January 2002, American Beach was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of several attractions on Florida’s Black Heritage Trail.
Today American Beach is experiencing a resurgence as more and more people are realizing the importance of preserving this historic community. It is now home to a variety of people, from federal judges and corporate executives to custodians, and is truly a representation of the American dream.
To learn more about American Beach, I recommend reading American Beach: A Saga of Race, Wealth, and Memory 