WATER & COAST

American Beach

Nassau County · North Florida & First Coast

Established in 1935 by A.L. Lewis, Florida's first black millionaire and president of the Afro American Insurance Company, as the first beach resort in the state open to African Americans, with its own motels, restaurants and shops. It declined after segregated beaches ended in the 1960s and developers bought more than half the land. Thirty-three acres are on the National Register of Historic Places and the community sits inside the Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Nana, the dune at its heart, is 65 feet high and the tallest on Florida's Atlantic coast. The American Beach Museum is at 1600 Julia Street, open on weekends. Parking and access are at Burney Park at the south end.