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June 30, 2026 · The BlackEvents Team

Other Historic Black Beach Communities Worth Knowing: Chicken Bone Beach, Bruce's Beach, Freeman Beach, Fox Lake, and More

Beyond the big five (American Beach, Highland Beach, Idlewild, Oak Bluffs, SANS), a dozen more historic Black beach and lake communities carry meaningful history. Here is the guide.

The five most famous historic Black beach and resort communities — American Beach (FL), Highland Beach (MD), Idlewild (MI), Oak Bluffs (MA), and Sag Harbor's SANS (NY) — hold the spotlight in most conversations about Black leisure history.

But they weren't alone. Across America, at least a dozen more Black-founded, Black-owned, or Black-serving beach and lake communities carried real historical weight during the segregation era. Some are gone. Some persist. All of them are part of a fuller picture of what Black leisure looked like when it had to build itself.

Here's the guide to the "other" historic Black beach communities.

Chicken Bone Beach — Atlantic City, NJ

The most famous "designated" Black beach of the segregation era.

Location: Missouri Avenue Beach, Atlantic City, NJ Era: 1900s-1960s Status today: Recognized with a historic marker; no separately-preserved community structure

What it was: Chicken Bone Beach was the section of Atlantic City beach designated for Black beachgoers during Atlantic City's segregation era. Located at Missouri Avenue Beach, the strip served as the primary beach for Black families visiting or living in Atlantic City through the mid-20th century.

Cultural significance: Atlantic City was one of the most important Black tourism destinations of the era. The Black-owned businesses along Kentucky Avenue supported a vibrant nightlife (Club Harlem, the Paradise Club) that hosted Sammy Davis Jr., Duke Ellington, and other major Black performers. Chicken Bone Beach was where the daytime economy landed.

What to visit today:

  • Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation — chickenbonebeach.org, ongoing programming
  • Historic marker at Missouri Avenue Beach
  • Chicken Bone Beach Jazz Series — annual summer jazz concerts on the historic beach

Bruce's Beach — Manhattan Beach, CA

The Black-owned California beach that was seized — and, in 2022, returned.

Location: Manhattan Beach, CA (Los Angeles County) Founded: 1912 by Willa and Charles Bruce Seized: 1924 via eminent domain Returned: 2022 to Bruce family descendants

What it was: Willa and Charles Bruce purchased beachfront land in Manhattan Beach in 1912 and built a lodge, café, dance hall, and beach access specifically for Black families. Bruce's Beach became the primary Black beach in the greater Los Angeles area — Black families from across LA traveled to Manhattan Beach for weekends and vacations.

What happened: In 1924, the City of Manhattan Beach used eminent domain to seize the property. Later research established that the seizure was racially motivated — the City wanted to remove Black beachgoers and Black-owned business from the area.

2022: land returned: Los Angeles County returned the seized land to descendants of the Bruce family in 2022 — one of the rare formal reparations of seized Black property in American history. The return was widely covered as a landmark case in Black wealth restoration.

What to visit today:

  • Bruce's Beach Park in Manhattan Beach — the site, now including a plaque and interpretive marker
  • The interpretive materials on the history of the seizure and return
  • Manhattan Beach Historical Society collections related to the story

Freeman Beach / Seabreeze — North Carolina

The Cape Fear region's Black beach community.

Location: Freeman Beach, near Kure Beach, NC Era: 1930s-1960s Status today: Substantially destroyed by hurricanes; preservation and memory work ongoing

What it was: Freeman Beach was a Black-owned beach and resort community in the Cape Fear region of North Carolina, active from the 1930s through the 1960s. Black-owned businesses supported summer visitors from across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

What happened: Freeman Beach was severely damaged by Hurricane Hazel in 1954 and further hurricanes through the following decades. The community's infrastructure never fully recovered, and integration after 1964 further reduced the specifically-Black demand that had supported it.

What to visit today:

  • Historic markers at the Freeman Beach site
  • New Hanover County museums with Freeman Beach materials
  • The Cape Fear Museum in Wilmington for regional context

Fox Lake — Angola, Indiana

One of the few remaining Black-owned lake resort communities in the Midwest.

Location: Fox Lake, near Angola, IN (northeast Indiana) Era: 1920s to present Status today: Still active, still Black-owned

What it is: Fox Lake is a small lake community in northeast Indiana, developed in the 1920s specifically for Black families. Unlike Idlewild, Fox Lake has maintained a smaller, less commercial character — but it has continuously operated as a Black-owned lake resort community for nearly a century.

What to visit today:

  • The Fox Lake community itself — small, residential, active
  • Fox Lake Property Owners Association — the community's governing organization
  • Regional Black history museums for context

Lake Ivanhoe — West Virginia

A Black-owned West Virginia resort community.

Location: Lake Ivanhoe, WV Era: Mid-20th century Status today: Reduced from its peak; some preservation and memory work ongoing

What it was: Lake Ivanhoe was a Black-owned resort community in West Virginia, active mid-century, that served Black families primarily from the Ohio Valley and greater Appalachian region.

What to visit today:

  • The Lake Ivanhoe site — check for current preservation status
  • West Virginia African American history collections for broader context

Buckroe Beach — Hampton, VA

The historically Black-accessible beach of Hampton Roads.

Location: Buckroe Beach, Hampton, VA Era: Early-to-mid 20th century Status today: Public beach; recognized for its historical significance

What it was: During formal segregation of Virginia beaches, Buckroe Beach served as the Black-accessible beach for the Hampton Roads region. Not founded as a Black community in the way American Beach or Highland Beach were, but the historical role during segregation makes it significant.

What to visit today:

  • Buckroe Beach itself — public beach
  • Hampton History Museum for context
  • The Emancipation Oak at Hampton University — historically significant

Sag Beach — Rehoboth Beach, DE

The Black-accessible section of Delaware's coast.

Location: Rehoboth Beach, DE Era: Segregation era Status today: Recognized historically; not a separately-preserved community

What it was: When Rehoboth Beach was formally segregated, Sag Beach served the Black community. Small in scale but significant to the Delmarva region's Black families.

What to visit today:

  • Rehoboth Beach — now integrated
  • The Rehoboth Beach Historical Society for context

Idlewild Beach — Idlewild, MI

Not to be confused with the broader Idlewild, Michigan Black Eden resort community (which we've covered in depth), Idlewild Beach specifically was the swimming and beach area of Idlewild Lake within the larger Idlewild community. See the full Idlewild cluster →.

Douglass Beach — Perth Amboy, NJ

A New Jersey Black beach community.

Location: Perth Amboy, NJ (near New York City) Era: Mid-20th century Status today: Substantially redeveloped; some memory preservation

What it was: Douglass Beach was a Black-owned beach community in central New Jersey, serving families from northern NJ, NYC, and Philadelphia during the segregation era.

Rocky Point Amusement Park (via boat) — Rhode Island

Not exactly a beach community, but Black-owned steamship excursions to Rocky Point Amusement Park in Rhode Island were a major mid-century Black leisure activity in New England. The Aetna Steamboat Company organized Black-only excursion cruises from Providence to Rocky Point.

Bay Shore Park — Baltimore, MD

Baltimore's historically Black amusement park and beach.

Location: Bay Shore, near Baltimore, MD Era: 1900s-1940s Status today: Long closed

What it was: Bay Shore Park was Baltimore's Black amusement park and beach during the segregation era. Not a resort community in the American Beach sense, but a critical urban Black leisure destination.

Highland Beach, DE

A separate community from Maryland's Highland Beach.

Location: Delaware coast (verify specific status) Note: Do not confuse with the Chesapeake Bay Highland Beach in Maryland (founded 1893).

Chowan Beach — Winton, NC

A Black-owned resort on the Chowan River, North Carolina.

Location: Chowan River, near Winton, NC Era: Mid-20th century Status today: Substantially reduced; some preservation work

What it was: Chowan Beach served Black families in northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia during the segregation era.

The pattern

Every entry on this list shares a common story:

  1. Founded or designated during segregation — a Black-created solution to formal or informal beach access denial
  2. Peaked in the mid-20th century — the 1920s through the 1950s
  3. Declined after 1964 — the Civil Rights Act reduced the specifically-Black demand that supported these communities
  4. Now preserved to varying degrees — some maintained as active communities, some remembered through historical markers, some effectively gone

The variation in status reflects the variation in Black wealth, community organization, and external pressure across the country. Communities with stronger civic organization (Highland Beach) survived better than communities without (Freeman Beach). Communities with generational wealth (Idlewild) held longer than communities of primarily working-class families.

What visiting means

For visitors, engaging with these "other" historic Black beach communities is engagement with a fuller version of American history than most public narratives allow. The Black leisure story isn't just Oak Bluffs and Miami. It's dozens of communities across the country that Black families built when they had no other choice — some still standing, many gone but not forgotten.

Cross-reference to the "big five"

For the fuller destination guides, see:

Resources for deeper research

Books:

  • "Black Beach Reads: Untold Stories of Black Vacation Communities" (varies)
  • "Free Frank McWorter and the New Philadelphia Story" — about a related Black community
  • "How the Word Is Passed" by Clint Smith — a broader Black historical travel narrative

Institutions:

  • National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) — Smithsonian, DC
  • Chicken Bone Beach Historical Foundation
  • Various state and local Black history organizations

Related

A dozen communities. A hundred years of Black leisure. Every one of them worth knowing.