Visiting the A.L. Lewis Museum + Twin Oaks (Frederick Douglass Museum): Two Historic Black Museum Visits

Two small museums in two historic Black beach communities. Both under-visited relative to their historical significance. Both essential stops for anyone engaged with American Black history.

Here's the guide to visiting the A.L. Lewis Museum at American Beach and Twin Oaks (Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural Center) at Highland Beach.

The A.L. Lewis Museum at American Beach

The essentials

Address: 1600 Julia St, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034 Location: Amelia Island, FL (30 minutes northeast of Jacksonville) Hours: Friday-Saturday 10 AM – 2 PM, Sunday 1 – 5 PM Admission: Donation-based Website: allewismuseum.org Formerly known as: American Beach Museum

What the museum is

The A.L. Lewis Museum is a small but significant museum dedicated to preserving the history of American Beach and its founder, A.L. Lewis.

The museum houses:

• Artifacts, photos, and oral histories documenting American Beach from 1935 to the present
• A.L. Lewis's personal papers and business records related to the founding of the community
• MaVynee "Beach Lady" Betsch's preservation legacy — the great-great-granddaughter of A.L. Lewis and American Beach's most important 20th-century preservationist
• Programming — talks, exhibitions, and community events tied to American Beach history

Why it matters

American Beach is one of the most historically significant Black-founded resort communities in America. Founded in 1935 by A.L. Lewis (Florida's first Black millionaire) during the strictest years of Jim Crow, the community represented a specific act of Black economic self-determination.

The A.L. Lewis Museum tells that story. Without the museum, much of American Beach's history would be lost — because the community itself, like many small historic Black communities, has limited economic capacity to preserve its own history at scale.

Visiting the museum is engagement with American Black history in a way that few small museums enable.

How to plan a visit

1. Plan around the museum's limited hours. Friday-Saturday 10 AM – 2 PM, Sunday 1 – 5 PM. Weekend visits work best.

2. Allow 90 minutes to 2 hours. The museum is small, but the story rewards attention. Don't rush through.

3. Read A.L. Lewis's biography before you arrive. Understanding his backstory (born 1865, the year the 13th Amendment abolished slavery) makes the founding story hit harder.

4. Combine with a walk on American Beach itself. The museum is walkable from NaNa (the great sand dune) and the historic community.

5. Donate. The museum runs on donations. Even $20 matters at this scale.

6. Bring questions. Museum staff and volunteers are typically eager to engage with prepared visitors.

What to see at American Beach beyond the museum

• NaNa — the 60-foot sand dune protected as part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve
• Historic American Beach homes — original architecture, some restored
• The community walk — original layout preserved
• The Amelia Island Museum of History in downtown Fernandina Beach for broader Amelia Island context

Twin Oaks / Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural Center at Highland Beach

The essentials

Location: Highland Beach, MD, on the Chesapeake Bay near Annapolis Website: fdmcc.org Hours: Vary; check current status directly with the museum Admission: Check with museum Building: Twin Oaks, the summer cottage built in 1895 by Charles Remond Douglass for his father Frederick Douglass

What the museum is

Twin Oaks is Frederick Douglass's summer cottage — built by his son Charles in 1895 as part of the founding of Highland Beach. Frederick died on February 20, 1895, before he could summer at Twin Oaks. The cottage remained in the Douglass family.

It is now the Frederick Douglass Museum and Cultural Center (FDMCC) — a museum dedicated to:

• Deepening public understanding of Frederick Douglass's life and family
• Preserving the social and cultural histories of Highland Beach and Venice Beach
• Providing access to these resources for education and research

The museum offers docent-led tours by trained interpreters and curates exhibits highlighting the community's history.

Why it matters

Twin Oaks is:

• The summer cottage Frederick Douglass would have vacationed at had he lived to see it completed
• A physical monument to the Douglass family's civil rights work — Frederick's, Charles's, and the family's across generations
• The centerpiece of Highland Beach, the oldest African American-founded incorporated municipality in Maryland
• A rare surviving 19th-century Black-owned resort structure — most contemporary Black-founded buildings did not survive segregation-era neglect and post-integration disinvestment

The building itself is a piece of history. The museum contextualizes it within the larger story.

How to plan a visit

1. Verify current hours — hours vary by season and event schedule. Check fdmcc.org before you go.

2. Book ahead if possible — tours may be by appointment for some visits.

3. Read Frederick Douglass's biography before you arrive. Understanding his life makes standing in his son's cottage-built-for-him a specific kind of experience.

4. Read about Charles Remond Douglass too. He served in the 54th Massachusetts, worked in federal government, and founded Highland Beach. His story is often overshadowed by his father's; understanding him deepens the visit.

5. Combine with Annapolis history. The Banneker-Douglass Museum in downtown Annapolis provides broader Maryland African American history context.

6. Combine with the Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial on the Annapolis waterfront.

What to see beyond Twin Oaks

• The Highland Beach community walk — historic homes, Chesapeake views, town hall
• Venice Beach — the neighboring historically Black community
• Downtown Annapolis — 15 minutes drive
• Banneker-Douglass Museum, Annapolis — Maryland's African American history museum
• Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial — significant historical site
• Sandy Point State Park — public beach access on the Chesapeake

Combining both museums as one trip

If you're doing a "Douglass legacy → Lewis legacy" trip:

The DC → Chesapeake day

• Morning: DC (start point) → Highland Beach
• Midday: Twin Oaks (Frederick Douglass Museum)
• Afternoon: Annapolis (Banneker-Douglass Museum + downtown)
• Evening: Dinner in Annapolis
• Overnight: Annapolis waterfront hotel

The Chesapeake → Florida drive (2-3 days)

• Day 1: Highland Beach → Charleston, SC (7-hour drive)
• Day 2: Charleston → Savannah, GA → Amelia Island (5-hour drive with stops)
• Day 3: American Beach + A.L. Lewis Museum
• Return: Fly out of JAX

Or flights (independent trips)

• DMV trip: BWI/DCA/IAD → 45 min to Highland Beach
• Florida trip: JAX → 30 min to Amelia Island

What both museums have in common

Both museums:

• Preserve 19th- and 20th-century Black-founded communities
• Are small and donation-supported — your engagement directly funds their work
• Are staffed by knowledgeable interpreters who care deeply about the material
• Reward preparation — prior reading enriches the visit substantially
• Function as story-keeping institutions for communities that would otherwise lose their history

The scale is small. The historical weight is enormous.

For scholars and researchers

Both museums have archives, oral history collections, and materials of interest to:

• Historians working on Black leisure, civil rights, or resort history
• Journalists covering historic Black communities
• Genealogists researching family history in either community
• Preservationists studying Black-founded architecture and community planning
• Documentary filmmakers and other cultural workers

Reach out to museum staff ahead of research visits. They typically welcome serious engagement and can provide access to materials that aren't in general exhibition.

Museum visit etiquette

Standard museum etiquette applies:

• Follow photography policies — some exhibits do not permit photography
• Read the wall text — both museums have carefully-written interpretive material
• Ask questions of staff and docents — they typically welcome engagement
• Donate — both museums operate on tight budgets
• Share your visit — social media awareness matters for small institutions
• Return with friends — repeat visits and referrals matter

What you'll take away

From the A.L. Lewis Museum:

• Understanding that Florida had a Black millionaire in 1901
• Recognition that A.L. Lewis built a beach community specifically so his employees could vacation
• Appreciation of MaVynee Betsch's decades of preservation work
• Knowledge of NaNa's ecological and cultural significance

From Twin Oaks:

• Standing in a room Frederick Douglass would have known if he'd lived a few more months
• Understanding Charles Remond Douglass as his own civil rights figure, not just as his father's son
• Recognizing Highland Beach as the oldest African American-founded incorporated municipality in Maryland
• Connecting the Douglass family legacy to a specific physical place

Both visits reward attention. Both are worth traveling for.

Related

• America's Historic Black Beach & Resort Towns
• American Beach, Florida: A.L. Lewis's Legacy
• Highland Beach, Maryland: Frederick Douglass's Chesapeake Legacy
• Getting to American Beach + Highland Beach
• Other Historic Black Beach Communities

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Two small museums. Two founding stories. A century of American Black history between them.