125 years ago today Revere Beach was declared America’s First Public Beach.
Bear in mind that most of the pictures you find are from long after the dedication. Revere Beach has a long history, and at first not much was there. Charles Eliot, a protege of Frederick Law Olmstead (who designed New York’s Central Park, San Francisco Golden Gate Park, and Boston’s own “Emerald Necklace” of parks) had the houses on the beach side of the Narrow Gauge railroad bought up and torn down, moved the narrow gauge to slight lower ground to the west, and built Revere Beach Boulevard atop the berm, added pavilions and a circle at the southern end, and hoped that people from Boston would come out to enjoy the sight and the breezes. He didn’t forsee that amusements would be built up along the shore side of the Boulevard. So all the roller coasters, fun houses, Virginia Reels, and the like were not really supposed to be there. The beach itself didn’t sit on the exposed Atlantic, but on the relatively protected Broad Sound, so the waves weren’t all that high (no body-surfing on Revere Beach). But that might be just what the country needed to get itself used to the idea of a Public Beach.
The story about Annette Kellermann being arrested for wearing too skimpy a bathing suit onto the beach isn’t true (there are no contemporary reports of it, and no police records. Kellemann herself didn’t start telling the story until the 1920s)
Sadly, the amusements left at the end of the 1960s. By the time I got there it was all gone. Now the beach is populated by condos and a few restaurants. And the City of Revere just started charging for parking, just in time for the anniversary. But the beach is still there, and they have the Sand Sculpture Contests and other celebrations. And it’s still a nice place to ride your bike on a summer day.
And, of course, you can reflect on the Glory that was Wonderland.
I had an aunt who lived in Danvers. She married a kind of ne’er-do-well type guy. When I was a kid in the 60s, we would visit them. I remember going to Revere Beach, where the guy would dig in the sand, come up with a razor clam, take it apart, and devour it raw.
Yesterday’s celebration was postponed on account of rain until tonight. When it’s going to rain.
I think they thought it was worse weather yesterday – there were local flash flood warnings. It really did come down yesterday afternoon, but by evening it was really more of a mist or drizzle. We’ll see how tonight goes.
Ah, yes! I commuted past Revere Beach daily via the MTA rapid transit blue line for several years (before New York usurped the Metropolitan Transit Authority name and Boston’s system was renamed the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority-MBTA). The Downtown Boston stations on the blue line are Bowdoin at Bowdoin Street, and State, at State Street where it intersects with other subway lines. East of the harbor tunnel, Revere Beach is the next to the last (aboveground) subway station, after Aquarium, Maverick, Airport, Wood Island, Orient Heights, Suffolk Downs, and Beachmont. Next stop Wonderland, where one can catch a bus for other North Shore communities such as Lynn, Salem, Swampscott, and Marblehead. I remember many of the amusements and establishments that preceded the current condos and apartments that line the beach. Santarpio’s Pizza was my favorite. Roast Beef survives. I saw risqué comedienne Belle Barth perform in the '60s at the Surf Club or the Frolic.
For those who aren’t local to the area or are local and missed it, DCR installed parking meters this year. It’s not outrageously priced. I think a quarter for 15 minutes. And it’s not all day every day. Something like Mon-Sat 8-8 Apr-Oct. But it’s super frustrating because it was nice to be able to pop over, park for free, go for a walk, and leave. I guess I can and just have to get up early and it’s only $1 for an hour walk or so, but the appeal of Revere was its free-ness. I wish the hours were different, like 10-8 or first hour free.
