A sand dune called Nana / NPS
American Beach was a historic African American resort community on the Atlantic coast in north Florida, just across north of Jacksonville, on Amelia Island, not far from the Georgia border. Part of Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, it's being evaluated for possible National Historic Landmark (NHL) designation and the National Park Service is seeking public input about their plans.
The beach has a fascinating history.
It was founded in 1935 by Florida's first Black millionaire, a man named Abraham Lincoln Lewis who made his money opening an insurance company that would insure Black families many white-owned insurance companies wouldn't cover. Originally, Lewis meant it for use by his employees, but Black families from Jacksonville started flocking there in the absence of other desegregated beaches in the area.
The beach was big, well over 200 acres, and featured restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels. Celebrities often stayed there, including sports stars like Hank Aaron and Joe Louis, singers Billie Daniels, Cab Calloway, and Ray Charles, among many others.
“American Beach was the most prominent of Florida’s segregated beaches and played a significant role in providing travel and leisure opportunities to African Americans traveling to the region during the mid-twentieth century,” said Alesha Cerny, regional historian with the NPS National Historic Landmarks program. “While the community has been impacted by social changes, the coastal environment, and local development and economic pressures, there still remains a rich cultural landscape with a concentration of notable buildings and landscape features.”
A hurricane destroyed many of the structures of American Beach in 1964, and what was left dropped in popularity after the passage of the Civil Rights Act that same year. That piece of legislation officially desegregated beaches in Florida and elsewhere in the country. Prior to desegregation, for many Black families to visit the beach, they'd have to find one outside of municipal jurisdictions, or go to a Black-owned beach resort like American Beach.
After desegregation the popularity of the beach waned. MaVynee Betsch, granddaughter of Lewis, was wary of outside individuals or groups trying to buy the beach and develop it, so she took it upon herself to organize supporters to preserve American Beach. Betsch wanted it to stand as a symbol of a struggle against Jim Crow laws in the South, a monument of the Black community's effort to thrive in the midst of segregation.
American Beach was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The Trust for Public Land bought a section of waterfornt property to be preserved in 2004. The National Park Service owns a portion of American Beach called "Nana Dune." The rest of the area is a mix of 1930s-era structures, new homes, and the crumbling remains of wreckage after Hurricane Dora in 1964.
The National Park Service has concluded American Beach appears to meet the criteria for NHL designation. It will take a year or two to fully assess American Beach for inclusion as a NHL site. Part of that effort is public engagement and soliciting opinion.
From an NPS release:
Opportunity for Public Comment
The NPS will host an in-person public meeting to discuss the American Beach study and answer questions about the project. The public meeting will take place on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 10 a.m. until noon at the A.L. Lewis Museum/American Beach Community Center, 1600 Julia Street, American Beach, Florida.
The NPS welcomes public comments and encourages the public to share any historical documents, such as historic photographs, newspaper clippings or other items with the project team. The public may submit written comments over the following questions for consideration in the study:
- What buildings, structures, sites or features in American Beach hold special value to you?
- How long have you been coming to American Beach?
- What is your favorite memory of American Beach?
- What do you consider the timeframe of history in American Beach? Does it start before the founding by the Afro-American Life Insurance Company in 1935?
- How do you see the natural landscape and environment as contributing to the history of American Beach (or not)?
- Do you have specific stories about historic locations in American Beach that you would like to share?
- What do you hope to learn about the NHL process?
- How do you see the NHL process helping American Beach (or not)?
- Do you have any historical documents that you would like to share with the project team (e.g., photos, newspaper clippings, etc.)? If so, please describe your documents.
- Please record any other comments you have on this project.
Online (the preferred method)
Visit https://parkplanning.nps.gov/AmericanBeach
Select “Open for Comment” on the left menu bar, open the “2024 Public Meeting” folder and click on the green “Comment Now” button to access the online commenting form; or
By Postal Mail, send comments to:
Alesha Cerny
Attn: American Beach Study
National Park Service
100 Alabama Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30303
Written comments on the draft study must be submitted online or be postmarked by Dec. 20, 2024, to be considered.
For more information about the American Beach study, including public meeting details, visit the planning website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/AmericanBeach.
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