~ The Old Sachem ~ Revere Beach

By Bill Stewart

Early Revere Beach was a place valued by the Pawtucket Indians: three miles of coastline of what we call the Atlantic Ocean’s Massachusetts Bay. Once the pilgrims saw the beach, they worshiped the pristine area. It took a while before the local authorities and the state decided that it should be updated for public usage. In the 1620s the Pilgrims traversed the area, which was a thriving farm community that became part of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and the area became known as Chelsea Beach by the European settlers. In 1881 residents changed the name to Crescent Beach, but the Metropolitan District Commission changed it to Revere Beach.

In 1895 the Massachusetts State Legislature decided to improve the beach extending from Winthrop to Lynn and Nahant. In July 1895, the Massachusetts Legislature gave the area to the Metropolitan Park Commission to develop the property. It became the first public beach in the United States. In 1896, Charles Eliot, as a landscape developer, was selected by the Park Commission to develop the state property.

Eliot was a Cambridge resident who had graduated from Harvard University and studied under the well-known architect Frederick Law Olmsted, whose works included New York’s Central Park and the grounds of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. Eliot stated in November of 1896 that “we must not conceal from visitors the long sweep of the open beach which is the finest thing about the reservation.” Because of Eliot’s work, they named a nearby traffic rotary Eliot Circle. On July 26, 1896, Revere Beach was opened to the public and has remained so to this day.

The beach is five miles north of Boston and easily available to the people of Greater Boston. A railroad that operated from Lynn to East Boston was known as the Narrow Gauge Railway. The train followed the crescent of the beach, which is labeled today as Revere Beach Boulevard. The tracks were relocated to a position 400 yards to the west to accommodate beachgoers. The MBTA today runs its trains along this modified placement. During World War II, a group of Revere men in the military were sent to Hawaii and were overjoyed to find that Honolulu used the coaches of the Narrow Gauge to transport people around the island.

On August 8, 1920, a riot broke out at Revere Beach after a police officer arrested a U.S. Navy sailor on a charge of drunkenness. Sailors on the beach at the time saw the situation and attempted to free the arrested sailor. Members of the U.S. Army and Marines who were at the beach responded by surrounding the police station and trying to free their comrade. The group – estimated to be about 400 – fired rockets and threw stones at the Revere Beach Police Station. Police responded by calling in federal troops from Fort Banks, which was a military post at the time, and the Boston Navy Yard military and the Chelsea Police also responded to quell the disturbance. The Fort Banks crew arrived with drawn bayonets along with the police and cleared the beach. The Navy responded to the threat by announcing that every sailor arrested would receive punishment from the Navy in Boston.

Through the years the beach area and its buildings suffered deterioration; the hurricane of February 1978 destroyed much of the beach and reconstruction began that summer. The weekend of July 19, 1996, the beach was reopened to massive crowds, with a three-day centennial celebration, and on May 27, 2003, Revere Beach was named a National Historic Landmark. The beach was again revitalized by the Metropolitan District Commission with new landscaping, sidewalks and improved parking.

Since July 2004 the beach has provided the New England Sand Sculpting Festival with an area of the beach partitioned off for the sculptures, and it provides a temporary art gallery for visitors. The contest draws about one million visitors a year.

Revere Beach undergoes testing each year for enterococcus, a pathogen that causes things such as a sore throat, or even meningitis, gastroenteritis and encephalitis.

The beach is also inhabited by piping plovers, who build their nests along the beach. During the birds’ nesting season, string and fence enclosures are constructed to protect the birds’ habitat.

Revere Beach is a treasure to the people of the area and the many visitors who come to the beach each year for enjoyment.

  (Editor’s Note: Bill Stewart, who is better known to Saugus Advocate readers as “The Old Sachem,” writes a weekly column about sports – and sometimes he opines on current or historical events or famous people.)