A history of Colonial Beach,
since 1892
Postcards, papers and photographs of Colonial Beach from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Judging by excavations done on oyster pits, it would seem that Native Americans have inhabited the area of modern-day Colonial Beach since at least the Early Woodland Period (500 B.C.- A.D. 900).
The town area now known as ‘The Point’ was originally patented by John Lancelott and S. Lancelott [Odyer and Sturman Escheat] on October 29, 1651.
Colonial Beach emerged as a bathing and fishing resort in the late 19th century known as the "Playground on the Potomac." Prior to automobile travel, most visitors arrived by boat from Washington, D.C.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Colonial Beach’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewColonial Beach, Va, 1909: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Colonial Beach
See all 3 →
Colonial Beach, decade by decade
1990s
2 historic places in Colonial Beach
Colonial Beach has 2 listings on the National Register, and they protect 83 historic buildings, because Colonial Beach Commercial Historic District alone counts 81.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Colonial Beach, Va (1909) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (1) and the Library of Congress (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.