Information from Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development.

Revere Beach

An excerpt from "A Profile of Revere", 1996 Monograph

...The use of Revere Beach as a pleasure resort actually goes back to 1834 when the first small tavern was built in the Point of Pines. Sportsmen, who found excitement in duck hunting on the salt marshes or in fishing offshore, followed their activities with a well-prepared chowder in the tavern at the end of the day.In 1881, a company of prominent Massachusetts men, among them the ancestors of former United States Senators Leverett Saltonstall and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. formed a company and purchased 200 acres of land in the Point of Pines. They invested $500,000 in a complete summer resort with hotels, bandstand, racetrack, amusements, piers and bathhouses. They provided gaslight illumination through beautiful arches above the walks and driveways, using gas jets and special globes. Over 2,000 people were present at opening ceremonies for the Pines Hotel, considered the largest on the Atlantic coast.At the other end of the beach, at the foot of Beachmont Hill was he Great Ocean Pier, which extended 1,450 feet out to Cherry Island Bar, completely roofed over to within 200 feet of the end. It was used as a dance pavilion, a sumptuous cafe and a large skating rink, all on a grand scale, with steamer service every half-hour to Boston and Nahant. The foundation required 2,000 piles; 1,200 yards of canvas covered the piazza and 500,000 shingles were used on the various roofs.The main entrance to the beach was at Revere Street. A visitor had a number of choices as to where he or she would spend the holiday or vacation. Each presented its own assortment of pleasures but all shared the rolling surf, the beauty of the open sea, the cooling breezes and the view of the crescent shaped beach which extended 4.5 miles from end to end.From its inception, Revere Beach was "the people's beach", used mostly by the working class and the many immigrants who chose to settle in the area. Visitors were described in 1909 as "industrious, well-behaved and a really desirable class of people, of many nationalities to be sure, but neighborly and polite…with one another."When people reminisce about Revere Beach however, it is not the sand and surf they remember most. It is the amusements. The Whip, the Ferris Wheel, Bluebeard's Palace, the Fun House, Hurley's Dodgems, the Pit, Himalaya, Hippodrome, Sandy's, the Mickey Mouse, the Virginia Reel and many more provided hours of enjoyment for residents and visitors alike. Of course, the biggest attraction was the Cyclone, among the largest roller coasters in the United States. Opened in 1927, its cars traveled at a speed of 50 miles per hour and its climb reached a 100 feet.

In addition to the sand, surf and amusements, there were two roller skating rinks, two bowling alleys, and numerous food stands. There were also the ballrooms, including the most famous, the Oceanview and the Beachview, each the site of many dance marathons which were popular in the 1930s.

The Beach began to deteriorate in the 1950s, and by the early 1970s had become a strip of honky tonk bars and abandoned buildings. The "Great Blizzard of '78"' proved to be the final death knell for the "old" Revere Beach, as many of the remaining businesses, amusements, pavilions and sidewalks and much of the sea wall were all destroyed. The Beach was the focus of a major revitalization effort by the MDC and the City in the 1980s and was officially reopened in May 1992. It now boasts high rise condominiums and apartment buildings, a resanded beach, restored pavilions and a renovated boulevard. On the weekend of July 19, 1996, Revere commemorated the centennial of the first opening of Revere Beach with a spectacular, three-day celebration.

Location: Eastern Massachusetts, bordered by Winthrop, Boston, and Chelsea on the south; Everett and Malden on the west; Saugus and Lynn on the north; and the Atlantic Ocean on the east. Revere is 3 miles north of Boston.