Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:Amelia Island, Florida
Historians and beach bums usually don't have much to talk about. But just about anyone could shoot the breeze about American Beach, located on Amelia Island, along northeastern Florida's Atlantic Coast. Situated between the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, and the Amelia Island Plantation Resort, the wide open sands of American Beach are dotted with sawgrass palmetto. Once an African American only vacation spot, today American Beach's 120 acres of undeveloped coastline are coveted by top developers. And because it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a stop on Florida's Black Heritage Trail, folks are traveling south to find out just what American Beach is all about. What are they saying? American Beach is good for both hanging out (sunbathing, fishing, and nature observing) and becoming more informed about our nation's past.
When segregation kept African American vacationers off of the other Florida shores, African American millionaire Abraham Lincoln Lewis founded American Beach as a vacation spot for the employees of his company, Afro-American Life Insurance. The 1930s through the 1950s (before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) were the glory days for American Beach. Black vacationers bought oceanfront properties, churches sprung up along the sands, and American Beach became a mecca of African American summering. Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Hank Aaron, Joe Louis, and a host of other soul, blues, and jazz legends both performed and hung out at American Beach's hotels, watering holes, and restaurants. American Beach bottomed out when African Americans began vacationing on other, integrated Florida beaches, but today it is making its comeback. For the most authentic American Beach introduction, take a tour with "The Beach Lady," a.k.a. MaVynee Betsch. A great-granddaughter of Abraham Lincoln Lewis and somewhat of an (eccentric) local celebrity, Betsch's American Beach tours tell the stories of the historic, beachfront homes, and take you through the "chitlin circuit," the once bustling African American nightclubs and theaters. She will generally give you the low-down on the American Beach scene both past and present. For the kind of history lesson you can take while sunning on the sand, American Beach is an educated vacation choice!