The sandy shoreline along what is now Long Beach and Lakeshore Park in Echo served as the original landing spot for boats supplying Walleye’s Trading Post and Fort Meeker. When boat traffic shifted south to what would become The Docks, Long Beach became an unused wilderness area with a beautiful stretch of lakefront. The first resort appeared in the 1890’s, and throughout the first half of the twentieth century, Long Beach grew into a tourist destination. Peaking in the 1960’s, Long Beach, like much of the city, began to decay. Fewer and fewer tourists sought a vacation on the northern edge of a rapidly rusting, postindustrial metropolis. In recent years, Long Beach has experienced a revival.
Long Beach
Established 1932
History of Long Beach
Nineteenth Century
Throughout the nineteenth century, Long Beach remained a backwater, an isolated area where people sought recreation. 1852-1894: Competing Forms of Civilization - Government, Business, and Industry1884
The rural communities that stretched around the northwestern corner of Central City, encompassing the area that would become the neighborhoods of Long Beach, The Heights, Waite Park, and The Hill, incorporated as Jefferson Township 1852-1894: Competing Forms of Civilization - Government, Business, and Industry1894
In 1894, the first resort was established in what would become Long Beach, and a string of cabins followed, creating an oasis for the growing population.
1894-1950 Development of Standards, Tradition, and Expectation