North Beach

In some ways a quieter, more-residential extension of Chesapeake Beach, North Beach has a fishing pier and a quiet boardwalk. When it was founded in 1900, it was a resort for family summer vacations, and amusement centers, bingo halls, theaters, and bathhouses defined the town until the Great Depression. Then in 1933 a hurricane ravaged the beach and destroyed many of its buildings. Post-World War II programs sponsored by the Veterans Administration facilitated a building boom, turning North Beach into a year-round community. Although sea nettles are a problem when swimming in the Chesapeake Bay, North Beach has a small, netted beach and a nearly waveless shore. Walk out on the pier where many of the benches are dedicated to the victims of September 11.