Where Gumbo Was #389
Congratulations to George G who found Gumbo at American Beach, Amelia Island, Florida.
American Beach is one of Florida’s most beautiful beaches and the community has an interesting history. It was founded in 1935 by Abraham Lincoln Lewis, the state’s first black millionaire. He helped found the Afro-American Life Insurance Company.
Lewis purchased 200 acres of beachfront property for his employees to have access to the seashore. At that time, it was the only place on the North Florida Coast that African-Americans were allowed. It eventually became open to all of the black community.
From the 1930s to 1964, summers were filled with people on vacation. It had hotels, restaurants, homes, nightclubs and other businesses. Since 1964, there has been steady decline of the community. Hurricane Dora devastated the community that year and the Civil Rights Act was passed, allowing African-Americans to go to beaches closer to their homes. Fewer made the trip to American Beach.
Evans’ Rendezvous, a restaurant, nightclub and hotel stayed open until the late 1980’s. It had numerous famous visitors and performers including James Brown, Cab Calloway and Ray Charles. After it closed, it fell into disrepair.
From the 1970’s, until her death in 2005, Lewis’ great-grandaughter, MaVynee Betsch lobbied to preserve the American Beach community. Much of it disappeared because of development. Betsch was a very interesting woman. She grew up in a wealthy family in Jacksonville and later became an opera star in Germany. She came back to Florida, donated all her money to nature causes and lived in American Beach, a lot of the time on a lounge chair at the beach.
She received the nickname The Beach Lady. She saved the largest sand dune in Florida; she called it Nana. Her efforts helped create a museum there about the community and much of what’s left in the community today is thanks to her. A really fascinating lady—more about her HERE.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com…beach-lady-84237022/
