Monday, June 15, 2020

Beulah Beach

I’ve been driving by Beulah Beach just about all my life and never really knew too much about the place. It’s located about halfway between Vermilion and Huron on West Lake Road (U. S. Route 6).

Here’s what it says in my copy of Lake Erie Vacationland in Ohio - Revisiting a 1941 Travel Guide to the Sandusky Bay Region:

BEULAH BEACH, 6.9 m, is a summer camp (R) and convention site for members of the Christian Missionary Alliance. Cottages and dormitories accommodate students who come here to get training for home and foreign religious work.

For a more up-to-date description, I consulted its Wiki entry. It said that Beulah Beach is an unincorporated community located in the western part of Vermilion Township, and confirmed that it is still true to its roots after all these years.

"Beulah Beach had its start in 1920 as a Christian commune," it notes. "It currently has a summer camp and retreat center, Beulah Beach Camp and Retreat Center, affiliated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination and a member of the Christian Camp and Conference Association.

But can anyone go there?


The Beulah Beach website notes that it is open to families as well, with a variety of programs. "As a ministry of the Christian Missionary Alliance, amid the demand of the frantic pace of today’s world, Beulah Beach Camp and Retreat Center has been a place of rest, relaxation, & spiritual renewal for guests since 1921,” the website states. 
"Open year round and overlooking the beautiful shores of Lake Erie, Beulah Beach offers guests a relaxed and comfortable place to retreat and be revived in body and spirit. We serve groups of all sizes, the location is ideal, the rooms are comfortable, the food is phenomenal, meeting rooms are spacious and well equipped, and we are within minutes of great attractions.”
Its kind of nice to know that the camp has been around as long as it has.
Here are some vintage postcard views.
I’ve only been on the grounds of Beulah Beach once in my life. Back in the 1960s, we bought my pet hamster (Rufus) from a resident there who raised them as a hobby.

Beulah Beach has only been mentioned on this blog once before. Peck’s Cottages (subject of a multi-post series) is now part of the Beulah Beach complex.

7 comments:

Buster said...

Thanks, Dan - I wondered about this site myself. Nice postcards!

-Alan D Hopewell said...

Whenever we passed the sign on 6&2, I always thought of Beulah the Witch from "Kukla, Fran, and Ollie". I never knew exactly what it was; thanks, Dan!

Anonymous said...

There are quite a few private seasonal AND year round homes in there also. Bill N

Dan Brady said...

Thanks, Bill! I was wondering about that.

Harrison Baumbaugh said...

HI Dan,nice story good postcards. I can give you some history on this. my moms step father sold the property to the Beulah corp around 1921. My mother Anna mae Baumbaugh nee Van thorne , step dad Gottfreid Nolte was his farm.She told me it was 90 acres both sides of lake road..The large house seen on north side and west of entrance road was once twice its size and was cut in half for some reason. This was the farm house my mother recalled.The family then moved into Vermilion and lived at corner of Perry and Huron streets thereafter. Grandpa Nolte was President of the bank, which went under in the bank closings....He was a German farmer about 1850-1944...I recall him well and i was 7 years old. Grandma passed in 1960 and my mom in 2010 AT 98 years old.Interesting times for sure.wish we still owned the land............Harrison Baumbaugh

Dan Brady said...

Hi Harrison,
Thanks for leaving the great comment about the history of the property and your family’s role in the creation of Beulah Beach – I appreciate it. I’ve dug up some vintage newspaper articles that go into the history of Beulah Beach as well, so I’ll either do a new post or update this one.

Harrison Baumbaugh said...

Thanks Dan,looking forward to your updates....