Colonial Beach

Colonial Beach (Virginia) is a small town on the west bank of the Potomac in Westmoreland County of the State of Virginia of the United States .

geography

Colonial Beach is located downstream from the US capital, Washington, DC. North of the city is the birthplace of the United States' founder, George Washington , now the George Washington Birthplace National Monument . The state line to Maryland , north of Virginia, runs along the Potomac flood line .

The city had 3542 inhabitants in 2010. Your geographic location is 38 ° 15 ′ 14 ″ N and 76 ° 58 ′ 08 ″ W.

history

Colonial Beach was first settled in 1650 on the initiative of Andrew Monroe, the great-grandfather of US President James Monroe . He gave the community the name Monrovia .

Economy and tourism

Until the middle of the 20th century, Colonial Beach was a destination for excursions and relaxation for the citizens of the capital Washington, who mostly traveled by ship. For example, Alexander Graham Bell's family had a summer home here. With the advent of vacation travel with private cars, this type of leisure time has almost come to a standstill.

Since the laws in Maryland in the 1920s allowed certain games of chance that were banned in Virginia, artificial islands, so-called piers , were created in the Potomac , which were accessible from Virginia and on which games of chance were offered.

The Potomac oyster beds had been in use since the mid-19th century, but Virginia fishermen had to pay a special fee to harvest oysters in Maryland. However, because Colonial Beach fishermen wanted to avoid the cost of such a license, in many cases they harvested wild . The Maryland Conservation Police hunted the blackfishers ; there were even fatalities. Today (2012) only a few of the watermen of Colonial City live from the harvest and sale of fresh oysters.

In Colonial Beach there is a dragway on which races with dragsters are held.

In honor of the fifth President of the United States James Monroe , who was born in Westmoreland County, there is a memorial in the village. A museum to commemorate Monroe is planned for the future.

Personalities from Colonial Beach

• Ed Mirvish (1914–2007), founder of Honest Ed’s department store in Toronto , Canada , theater operator and philanthropist .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ USA today - Provincial Notes. Day 25 in Welt am Sonntag on 30 July 2011, page 81