Sparrow's Beach was a beachfront resort on the Chesapeake Bay that catered to African American patrons during segregation in the American South. [1]
Located just south of Annapolis, Maryland, Sparrow's Beach was established as a recreational area during the Jim Crow-era when African-Americans were denied entry into 'Whites-only' establishments. [2] Other nearby beachfront resorts used for this purpose included Carr's Beach, Elktonia Beach, Bembe Beach, Highland Beach, Venice Beach, Oyster Harbor, and Arundel-on-the-Bay. [2]
In August 2022, the City of Annapolis purchased what remains of Sparrow's Beach, Carr's Beach, and Elktonia Beach to preserve the land as a park. [3]
Frederick Carr and Mary Wells Carr purchased 180 acres of waterfront property on the Annapolis Neck peninsula in 1902. In 1926, they established a beachfront resort called Carr's Beach on the land. Their daughter, Elizabeth Carr Smith, operated Carr's Beach. Their other daughter, Florence Carr Sparrow (1890-1989), established neighboring Sparrow's Beach on the land in 1931. [4] [5] [6]
Sparrow's Beach operated for about forty years. [7]
In August 2022, the City of Annapolis acquired five bay-front acres that included the remains of Carr's Beach, Sparrow's Beach, and Elktonia Beach. The acquisition was a result of collaborative efforts of the Blacks of the Chesapeake Foundation, Chesapeake Conservancy, the City of Annapolis, the State of Maryland, and The Conservation Fund. [8]
Some of the acreage will be preserved for use as a public park. [9]
Maryland is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The state borders Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, Delaware to its east, the Atlantic Ocean, and the national capital of Washington, D.C. With a total land area of 12,407 square miles (32,130 km2), Maryland is the ninth-smallest state by land area, and its population of 6,177,224 ranks it the 18th-most populous state and the fifth-most densely populated. Maryland's most populous city is Baltimore, and the capital is Annapolis. Occasional nicknames include Old Line State, the Free State, and the Chesapeake Bay State. It is named after Henrietta Maria, the French-born queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland during the 17th century.
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and the state of Delaware. The mouth of the Bay at its southern point is located between Cape Henry and Cape Charles. With its northern portion in Maryland and the southern part in Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay is a very important feature for the ecology and economy of those two states, as well as others surrounding within its watershed. More than 150 major rivers and streams flow into the Bay's 64,299-square-mile (166,534 km2) drainage basin, which covers parts of six states, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, and all of Washington, D.C.
Highland Beach is a town in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 118. The town was founded late in the 19th century by affluent African Americans from Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, looking for a summer retreat on the Chesapeake Bay. The town's incorporated status gave it a unique standing in empowering it to maintain its own police force. Celebrities with homes there have included historian and author Alex Haley, actor and comedian Bill Cosby, and tennis champion Arthur Ashe. Street names in the town include Crummell, Dunbar, Henson, Augusta, Douglass, Langston, and Washington, which were chosen to honor leading African Americans.
Chesapeake Beach is a town in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. Its major attractions include the Chesapeake Beach Railway Station, the Chesapeake Beach Rail Trail, a water park, marinas, piers, and charter boat fishing. The town's population was recorded as 5,753 in the 2010 census.
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) is a multi-university scientific research center within the University System of Maryland dedicated to environmental science, estuarine studies, and marine science.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a major dual-span bridge in the U.S. state of Maryland. Spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the state's rural Eastern Shore region with the urban Western Shore, between Stevensville and the capital city of Annapolis. The original span, opened in 1952 and with a length of 4 miles (6.4 km), was the world's longest continuous over-water steel structure. The parallel span was added in 1973. The bridge is officially named the Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge after William Preston Lane Jr. who, as the 52nd Governor of Maryland, initiated its construction in the late 1940s finally after decades of political indecision and public controversy.
The Eastern Shore of Maryland is a part of the U.S. state of Maryland that lies mostly on the east side of the Chesapeake Bay. Nine counties are normally included in the region. The Eastern Shore is part of the larger Delmarva Peninsula that Maryland shares with Delaware and Virginia.
Southern Maryland, also referred to as SoMD, is a geographical, cultural and historic region in Maryland composed of the state's southernmost counties on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. According to the state of Maryland, the region includes all of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's counties and the southern portions of Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties. It is largely coterminous with the region of Maryland that is part of the Washington metropolitan area. Portions of the region are also part of the Baltimore Metropolitan Area and the California-Lexington Park Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 Census, the region had a population of 373,177. The largest community in Southern Maryland is Waldorf, with a population of 81,410 as of the 2020 Census.
Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is separated from Sandy Point, an area near Annapolis, by roughly four miles (6.4 km) of water. At only four miles wide, the main waterway of the bay is at its narrowest at this point and is spanned here by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The Chester River runs to the north of the island and empties into the Chesapeake Bay at Kent Island's Love Point. To the south of the island lies Eastern Bay. The United States Census Bureau reports that the island has 31.62 square miles (81.90 km2) of land area.
The recorded history of Maryland dates back to the beginning of European exploration, starting with the Venetian John Cabot, who explored the coast of North America for the Kingdom of England in 1498. After European settlements had been made to the south and north, the colonial Province of Maryland was granted by King Charles I to Sir George Calvert (1579–1632), his former Secretary of State in 1632, for settlement beginning in March 1634. It was notable for having been established with religious freedom for Roman Catholics, since Calvert had publicly converted to that faith. Like other colonies and settlements of the Chesapeake Bay region, its economy was soon based on tobacco as a commodity crop, highly prized among the English, cultivated primarily by African slave labor, although many young people came from Britain sent as indentured servants or criminal prisoners in the early years.
Arundel-on-the-Bay is a former post village and resort area in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States, located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Annapolis. Arundel-on-the-Bay is located on a peninsula known as the Annapolis Neck and is a peninsula in and of itself, bordered on the east and south by the Chesapeake Bay, and by Fishing Creek on the west.
Beverley Beach is an unincorporated community in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States.
The Chesapeake Beach Railway (CBR), now defunct, was an American railroad of southern Maryland and Washington, D.C., built in the 19th century. The CBR ran 27.629 miles from Washington, D.C., on tracks formerly owned by the Southern Maryland Railroad and then on its own single track through Maryland farm country to a resort at Chesapeake Beach. The construction of the railway was overseen by Otto Mears, a Colorado railroad builder, who planned a shoreline resort with railroad service from Washington and Baltimore. It served Washington and Chesapeake Beach for almost 35 years, but the Great Depression and the rise of the automobile marked the end of the CBR. The last train left the station on April 15, 1935. Parts of the right-of-way are now used for roads and a future rail trail.
Fort Smallwood Park is a county park in northeastern Anne Arundel County, near Riviera Beach and Pasadena, Maryland, United States. It is located on the outer Patapsco River as it meets the Chesapeake Bay, on a peninsula known as Rock Point.
The Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic railroad, nicknamed Black Cinders & Ashes, ran from Claiborne, Maryland, to Ocean City, Maryland. It operated 87 miles (140.0 km) of center-line track and 15.6 miles (25.11 km) of sidings. Chartered in 1886, the railroad started construction in 1889 and cost $2.356 million ($2024=76,736,000).
White Marylanders are White Americans living in Maryland. As of 2019, they comprise 57.3% of the state's population. 49.8% of the population is non-Hispanic white, making Maryland a majority minority state. The regions of Western Maryland, Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore all have majority white populations. Many white Marylanders also live in Central Maryland, including Baltimore, as well as in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Garrett County (97.5%) and Carroll County (91.9%) are the counties with the highest percentage of white Americans. Garrett and Carroll counties also have the highest percentage of non-Hispanic whites at 96.3% and 88.7%, respectively. Prince George's County (27%), Baltimore (30.4%), and Charles County (42.8%) have the lowest percentages of white people. Prince George's County has the lowest percentage of non-Hispanic whites, at 12.5% of the population. White Marylanders are a minority in Baltimore, Cambridge, Charles County, Jessup, Owings Mills, Prince George's County, Randallstown, and White Oak. Non-Hispanic whites are the plurality in Montgomery County, Columbia, Elkridge, Reisterstown, Salisbury, and Severn.
Jews have settled in Maryland since the 17th century. As of 2018, Maryland's population was 3.9% Jewish at 201,600 people. The largest Jewish populations in Maryland are in Montgomery County and the Baltimore metropolitan area, particularly Pikesville and northwest Baltimore. As of 2010, Baltimore and Baltimore County was home to a Jewish community of around 100,000 people. The Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. have a Jewish population of around 116,700 as of 2017, with the majority residing in lower Montgomery County. The Rockville/Potomac area is the center of Montgomery County's Jewish population, while sizable communities also exist in the Bethesda/Chevy Chase area and in Silver Spring's Kemp Mill neighborhood. Smaller Jewish communities exist in Gaithersburg, Germantown, White Oak, Olney, and Takoma Park. Columbia, Frederick, Annapolis, Cumberland, and Easton are also home to smaller but significant Jewish populations.
Carr's Beach, founded in 1926, was a beachfront resort on the Chesapeake Bay that catered to African American patrons during segregation.
During the decades of segregation in the United States, African Americans established various resorts. The resorts were self-contained commercial establishments. Varying resort accommodations included rooms for rent, meals and fine food, cocktail bars, dancing, sporting facilities, and beaches. Also in some cases entire communities were known as resort areas for African Americans. The Negro Motorist Green Book helped guide African Americans to accommodating and safe places, including Idlewild, Michigan, which was among the most well known.