Bay Shore Beach & Resort

Bay Shore Beach and Resort. Early Vacation Spot for Blacks in the South. This is the site of a popular alternative to Buckroe Beach, which had opened as a whites-only facility in the 1880s. Desiring to have a vacation resort by the sea for their own people, a group of African American leaders in Hampton formed the Bay Shore Hotel Company in 1887, and the next year bought beach front land adjacent to Buckroe Beach, south of the fishing pier. The effort was led by Frank Banks of Hampton Institute. Bay Shore Beach and Resort, considered the first vacation spot for blacks in the South, attracted thousands of vacationers from the mid-Atlantic region, including many who came by excursion train from Richmond. There was an amusement park with rides like the “Dixie Flyer” rollercoaster and a carousel., What began as a four-room cottage in 1898 grew into a four-story beachfront hotel with 70 rooms and long porches facing the water. There was a dance hall that brought in famous entertainers like Cab Calloway, James Brown and Dizzy Gillespie. On August 23, 1933, a major hurricane decimated the resort. It was later rebuilt by the New Bay Shore Corporation and the new Bay Shore Amusement Park operated well into the late 1960s. In 1973, the directors were forced to sell the property to private developers, but Bay Shore's existence continues to hold a memorable place in the history of Hampton. , , (sidebar) , Members of the Bay Shore Hotel Company were J.H. Evans, J.L. Fountain, Thomas Harmond D.R. Lewis, F.D. Banks, Robert R. Morton, Alexander Gardiner, Jr., John M. Phillips, and Richard R. Palmer.