Beach Fun at Lakeview Park – July 1964

The Lakeview Park beach that I remember from the 1960s

For those of us that grew up in the area, Lakeview Park is a special place. I can't say that I remember swimming (or wading) there too much when I was a kid, because there wasn't much of a beach there in the 1960s. But we went to the park anyways, mainly to see the fountain light up or see the Easter Basket, or have the odd picnic.  

Later, Lakeview Park became a less desirable place for families, due to a lot of hippies and riff-raff, so Mom & Dad didn't take us there too much. 

But by the time I was driving in the mid-1970s, cruising through Lakeview was still the cool thing to do. I remember driving through there with my high school buddies (many of whom were a year younger than me), keeping our cans of 3.2 beers low. (I wonder if the statute of limitations ran out on that particular crime?) 

Anyways, to close out the week here on the blog, here's a nice page of photographs by the great Norm Bergsma that ran in the Journal on July 24, 1964. The collection of photos captures an innocent time, showing teenagers and families enjoying a carefree day of fun at Lakeview beach.