A day at the beach usually means a pleasant day or a pleasant experience, but just for a day. These days, when people go to the beach, they typically go for several days or even weeks, but when did this start?

In the Center's collection, there are numerous references to leisure time and vacations, but not always beaches. Americans didn't start going to beaches for recreation until well after the Civil War. Beaches were not desirable, in fact, they were considered unhealthy. The air was damp and heavy, there were insects, disease, impure water - all things people wanted to avoid. Where did they go? They went inland. Even here in Stafford County, people who lived and farmed the area near the Potomac River headed west. The Wallers of "Clifton" went to Garrisonville to "Red Top." Not far, perhaps only 15 or 20 miles inland, where the air was dryer, there were fewer insects and the environment more pleasant. Others went to the mountains or went to the springs and spas. In 1851 the Knox family of Fredericksburg headed for Lees' Springs, now the site of the Fauquier Country Club. Mrs. Knox and several of the children went to recuperate from some illness, likely cholera. Based on Mrs. Knox's letter to her husband Thomas, the children were better, behaving well (unlike their unruly cousins), but the food was terrible. In pre Civil War days, wealthy families spent entire summers at the springs. It was a way for families to meet other families whose children might be suitable mates for their children. The young women spent their days reading, sewing or strolling on the grounds. The young men went riding and gambled. In the evening, families dined together getting to know each other. There was dancing, musical entertainment, readings and plays.

The War reordered society and few people, especially in the South, had money or time for spas and springs. However, a single day's outing with a school, church or work group provided a brief get away.

Distance and transportation were limiting. There were no interstates or even good roads. Horse drawn wagons took small groups out for picnic lunches. The destinations did not have restaurants or amenities we now take for granted. A few places did have rooming or boarding houses and occasionally small hotels.

Although the Rappahannock River flows through Fredericksburg, few people swam in the River, except for young boys. According to Corinth Coleman Butler's oral history, the Rappahannock was considered too dirty for swimming.

The Potomac shoreline was more conducive to swimming and picnicking. As transportation opportunities improved it was possible to go to Fairview Beach in King George and Colonial Beach in Westmoreland. The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad built a recreation area for its employees and their families, with a beach and pavilion, in the Widewater area of Stafford. It was destroyed by a hurricane in 1937. Eva Tyson Decatur spoke of it in her oral history. Old timers in Widewater always called this Widewater Beach. Today Widewater Beach is a neighborhood on Aquia Creek. Mrs. Decatur also recalled going to Colonial Beach with a group of young people who worked with her in the textile mills in Fredericksburg. On one of these jaunts, when she was 14 years old, a young man pulled her under the water and held her there until she nearly drowned. In 2004, when she was 98 years old, she still hated the thought of going swimming.

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Another young woman had better memories of going to the beach. Julia "Bootsie" Ballard Gravatt, who graduated from high school in 1951, recalled going to both Fairview and Colonial Beaches, but not to swim. In 1954 she bought a 1941 Mercury coupe for $200 that was held together with "spit and chewing gun." With her friend Christine Powell, she went to the beaches most Saturday nights to dance. There were pavilions at both beaches where they danced the nights away at the Reno and the Monte Carlo. A policeman patrolled the dance floor to make sure no one "danced dirty." Anyone doing so was removed from the floor. Bootsie said she was escorted from the floor more than once.

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Now, we pack our cars and vans, get on the interstate highways and head for beaches up and down the Atlantic coast. We stay for days or even weeks in air conditioned rooms, dine in restaurants, rent paddle boards, surfboards, bicycles, beach umbrellas and lounge chairs. Some use beach time for reunions, renting large homes that accommodate multiple generations and several families. Times have changed!