Sparrow's Beach
Sparrow's Beach provided picnic areas and "carnival rides" in addition to the swimming beach.
Sparrow's Beach was considered to be the family-friendly beach and Florence Sparrow catered to churches. Church groups held annual picnics and other events for members. This is a view of the swimming beach.
Known Name(s)
Sparrow's Beach
Address
P. O. Box 266 Annapolis, MD
Establishment Type(s)
Beach
Physical Status
Demolished
Description
Located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, on the south side of Back Creek, Sparrow’s Beach consisted of a swimming beach, a picnic area, amusement rides and cabins.
Detailed History
By the late 1920s, African Americans who traveled to Ocean City, Maryland witnessed the efforts by whites to reduce their access as each summer a smaller and smaller amount of ocean-front beach was made available for their use. Henry’s Hotel, which was the only African American hotel in the ocean side resort, was primarily used by the staff of the resort’s hotels rather than tourists. The opening of Carr’s and Sparrow’s beaches in the 1930s provided middle class African American beach goers with access to the Chesapeake Bay for day trips rather than a destination resort such as Golden’s. Two Carr sisters, Elizabeth Carr Smith and Florence Carr Sparrow, each owned a strip of beach that they had inherited from their father, Frederick Carr, in 1929 after his death.
A 1942 article in the Afro-American by Ida Murphy Smith summed up the difference between Carr’s and Sparrow’s. At Sparrow’s there were “cool, clean cabins” that were available for rent by the day, week or month, along with swimming, dancing and picnic grounds. The property had ample parking, a 100-foot long wharf, 6 cabins and 9 cottages for those seeking a vacation, and Sparrow’s catered to churches and clubs. Postcards show the amusement rides that were also available. Smith, Ida Murphy, “Travel America,” The Afro-American, July 18, 1942, P.8 (downloaded from Proquest Historical Newspapers, Enoch Pratt Free Library 09052021)
