Nahant Beach Development – Nahant MA

Description

Descriptions of W.P.A. projects conducted in 1937:

“Nahant Beach Reservation; the large automobile parking space adjacent to the boulevard was improved and enlarged by the completion of a project started in 1936. The area was improved and made safer for the use of automobiles by the installation of rip-rap shore protection and filling and grading of the parking space. About 3,200 cubic yards of heavy stone was placed for shore protection and 12,500 cubic yards of earth and rock were excavated and placed in regrading the auto park, the usable area of which is now about 70,000 square yards.

Nahant Beach Reservation; a bituminous concrete surfaced promenade 6,300 feet long and 10 feet wide was completed parallel to the boulevard and extending from the bath house to Wilson Road on the ocean side. In addition to being used as a pedestrian walk, the promenade may be used for emergency ambulance service on occasions when the roadway is badly congested with traffic.”

1938:
“Nahant Beach Parkway, Nahant; a project for recreational improvements along the parkway was approved in November, 1938. Construction will start in the spring on 18 fire places, 24 tables and 48 benches and the installation of 24 drinking fountains and a connecting 5,000 feet of 1-inch brass pipe.”

1939:
“Nahant Beach Bathhouse, Nahant; to construct a 30-foot by 75-foot brick garage and workshop building.”

“During 1939, work was completed on the construction of twenty-four large fireplaces, twenty-four stone tables and forty-eight stone seats, and the installation of twenty-four drinking fountains along the ocean side of the Nahant Beach Parkway in Nahant. This development, while felt highly desirable, was recognized as an innovation in public bathing beach facilities and its popularity was closely watched. In the six months of use after construction, the fireplaces were seldom unused. It was necessary to issue permits for two-hour periods until midnight and it is estimated that over 100,000 persons participated in their use.”