American Beach

In the early 1930s, Abraham Lincoln Lewis, the owner of Afro American Insurance Company, founded American Beach. Located on Amelia Island, north of Jacksonville, this beach was first intended for Lewis’s employees, and it served as one of the few Florida beaches open to African Americans during segregation. Through the 1950s, the beach grew in notoriety and popularity, becoming a staple in the coastal Florida scene.

Over time, development encroached on the town, and Lewis’s great-granddaughter, MaVynee Betsch—locally known as the “Beach Lady”—helped marshal supporters to preserve the beach. Trust for Public Land purchased a stretch of the beachfront to be protected as public land in 2004.

This beach continues to go through an important transition, and TPL is proud to help guide it toward a future of protection, recreation, and enjoyment.