Community Corner

Kiosk Gives Long Beach Visitors Historical Perspective

Map offers images of homes, buildings and neighborhoods of yesteryear in the city.


While Long Beach is well known for its stretches of boardwalk and beach, a subtler distinction of the city the diverse architecture. Homes range from Tudor to Moorish Revival to Queen Anne to Modern.

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Dwellings of these and other styles are now featured in photos on a panel of a new kiosk at Kennedy Plaza. Other panels on this green, four-sided directory display images of Long Beach from decades past, including bath houses that once lined the boardwalk, the original City Hall and the post office building that still stands at East Park Avenue and Riverside Boulevard.

Yet another panel shows small snapshots of historic structures and neighborhoods accompanied by brief descriptions of each. Among these are Castles by The Sea, a dance pavillion built along the shore, the Hotel Nassau, now a beachfront apartment building at National Boulevard and West Broadway, and, of course, Long Beach’s iconic boardwalk.

The text accompany images of the wooden walkway from yesteryear reads: “The Long Beach Boardwalk was constructed in 1907 and stretches 2.2 miles along the white sands along the Atlantic Ocean. It was the main attraction for visitors and residents of LB and one could stroll the 50’ wide structure and see others, stop at the music pavillion and listen to music, watch a tennis match or dine at one of the many restaurants overlooking the ocean.”   

The Long Beach Island Landmarks Association (LBILA) created this kiosk outside City Hall, thanks to a grant the organization had received from Nassau County. The city’s representative, Legislator Denise Ford, a West End resident, made LBILA aware of the grant and submitted an application to use the funds earmarked for various signs.  

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Among them was the kiosk that would inform residents and visitors of Long Beach’s history through its architectural treasures, which the organization decided would be a valuable addition to the downtown, said Doug Sheer, a LBILA member who helped design the kiosk.


“Some of the buildings are still present today but many have been lost to fire or the needs of a growing community,” Sheer said.

LBILA holds a heritage bus tour of the city’s many historical homes, buildings and neighborhoods, including the Red Brick District and the Canals, both of which are featured on the kiosk that is called the Long Beach Heritage Trail. The tour and signage are part of the organization’s broader mission to educate the public about Long Island’s only city on the South Shore.

“The Long Beach Heritage Trail offers people a quick and easy way to find some of the many sites in Long Beach along with a short description of each location,” Sheer said. “Many people may not be aware of the location of the former West End Fire House or the once famous Long Beach Hotel, lost to a fire in 1907, but with the help of the map these historic places take on new meaning.”

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The county grant, which LBILA received in 2011, has already provided for an historical marker that was posted outside the Long Island Rail Road station last year. Another historical sign, a two-legged metal sign that featured the history and sepia photo of the boardwalk, was bolted to the walkway at National Boulevard two weeks before Hurricane Sandy battered the 2.2-mile structure and the rest of the beach town. The sign survived the storm and will be re-posted on the new boardwalk.

LBILA has other signs in the works, including three for the bridges in the Canals. Signs slated for display on the new boardwalk include one that will recall the 19th century wreck of The Mexico off the coast near what is now Lincoln Boulevard. Still another sign is planned for Alabama Street and West Beech Street, the site of the original West End firehouse.

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