Friday, January 6, 2023

Harmon's Beach in Winter – January 1963

Harmon's Beach has washed ashore on this blog as a topic a few times.

Back here, I posted a Journal article and photo from March 1956 showing the huge buildup of sand that had accumulated, creating a hazard to boaters as well as swimmers. And this post presented the August/Sept. 1970 debate about whether Harmon's Beach should be closed to the  public because of the actions of a few. (It was, in April 1972.)

But all that controversy was in the future when the photo below appeared in the Journal on January 1, 1963.

The caption reads, "Gray and white predominate the wintry landscape in this photograph taken at Harmon's Beach, at the foot of Brownell Ave. At the upper right, the lighthouse keeps a cold and lonely vigil and near the center of the photo a sign warns needlessly – "Private beach – violators will be prosecuted."

I'm not sure how Harmon's Beach went from being a private beach to a public one, before eventually being closed.
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4 comments:

  1. -Alan D HopewellJanuary 6, 2023 at 3:31 AM

    I'd always thought that it was a private beach, and that people (including this reporter) simply ignored that fact.

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  2. RaeJanuary 6, 2023 at 6:05 AM

    My mom always warned me about swimming there. She said they're sudden drop offs and currents. What mama don't know . . . but was always cautious and it took some of the fun out of it worrying about what she said.

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  3. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2023 at 10:23 AM

    That's where I learned how to swim. My uncle owned a boat and we would cruise over to Harmon's beach and grab handfuls of sand and wash off the algae from the sides of the wooden boat. He would have me jump off the back and catch me before I went under. Eventually he let me go under and after flailing under water a few times I was sort of swimming. Always fond of Harmon's. Todd

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  4. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2023 at 12:36 PM

    My Grandmother took me there as a small child, lots of mothers and kids playing.Beach was loaded with people. When I was older kids around the area swam there all day long.We had a B29 rubber inner tube about 6 ft wide and would float out to the gap and sometimes to the lighthouse.Great fun times.I recall the sand moved in and it was closed off for the public. HARRISON

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