“I call it the edge of the Earth,” said Carrie Bothmer, who moved to the unincorporated community nearly 20 years ago. “I can’t imagine ever leaving.”
Many residents commute 38 miles to Baltimore or 35 to D.C., Bothmer said, but enjoy the tranquility of living in Beverly Beach. “It’s a place to hide from all the hustle and bustle,” she said.
Before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened in 1952, Beverly Beach was one of three beaches on the Mayo Peninsula that drew Baltimore and D.C. residents on weekends to swim, boat and fish.
Baltimore native Edgar S. Kalb established a cottage community, then spelled Beverley Beach, around 1925 and about 20 years later bought the neighboring beach and named it Triton Beach, offering it as a day resort.
The original cottages had stucco walls, tongue-and-groove bead board and exposed ceilings — primitive, but strong, said resident Greg Hurley, who remembers Beverly Beach from his childhood in the late 1950s. They had free access to the beach resort, according to “Images of America, Chesapeake’s Western Shore Vintage Vacationland,” by Lara L. Lutz.
The resort had concession stands, slot machines, coin-operated rides, bingo games and dance bands, according to “The History of Mayo, Maryland” by Caroline L. Britt Mullins.
“You could put me in the middle of that pavilion and I could tell you where everything was,” Hurley said.
Those attractions are long gone. Today, the neighborhood is an eclectic mix of about 400 houses. Most original cottages have been renovated, razed or enlarged.
A former lifeguard bunkhouse has been converted to a four-unit dwelling — rare for Beverly Beach where most houses are single family.
“You have your beach bungalows, your million-dollar homes,” Bothmer said. “It’s a little bit of everything here.”
Over the last 12 months, nine houses sold in Beverly Beach, with an average sale price of $460,000. The lowest was $315,000, for a 970-square-foot two-bedroom, one-bathroom house. The highest was $779,000 for a 2,861-square-foot four-bedroom, three-bath house, said real estate agent J.J. Fegan, an associate broker with RE/MAX Executive.
A few houses are on the water. But one desirable feature of Beverly Beach is that a homeowner can have water views and water access without paying the higher taxes of a waterfront house, Fegan said.
Neighboring Beverly Triton Nature Park has a beach, three saltwater ponds for crabbing and fishing, and hiking and biking trails. Beverly Beach residents can access it directly from their neighborhood.
The community maintains a private marina on Cadle Creek, but Beverly Triton Park is the only sandy beach.
Sandy Lofgren-Sargent, a real estate agent and lifelong Edgewater resident, has cherished memories of Beverly Beach. Her family had a bloodworm business, and as a youngster she would make early deliveries to the general store on Central Avenue that served the three beaches in the area.
In 2021, she bought and renovated the 1926 Beverly Beach lifeguard bunkhouse into rental units.
“I have this passion for things that are old,” said Lofgren-Sargent, owner of Lofgren-Sargent Real Estate. “I like to see them loved properly.”
Hurley, who bought his parents’ Beverly Beach home in 1974 and added a second story, recalled his childhood in the community, including playing with the Black children whose grandmother lived nearby on land her family had owned since the 1800s. One day, when Hurley’s brother suggested that they go to the beach, their friend said, “‘No, we can’t go down there.’”
“I thought it was because he wasn’t allowed to go that far,” Hurley said.
The real reason was Kalb did not allow Black or Jewish people to purchase cottages or use the beach, according to the county’s “Guide to African American Heritage and Culture in the Four River Heritage Area.” The guide shows a sign that was posted at the front of the beach club that said, “Membership Limited To Gentiles Only.”
In 1968, Kalb closed the resort rather than comply with a federal order to integrate, the same year a state law banned slot machines, the heritage guide said.
Several years later Kalb sold the property to a developer who planned to build high rises. But Beverly Beach residents and other groups opposed the plan and dug in for a fight. In 1984, Anne Arundel County bought the land for what would become Beverly Triton Nature Park.
Residents worked with the county to minimize park traffic in their neighborhood. People who don’t live in Beverly Beach must reach the park only through an entrance on Triton Beach Road.
“They don’t want [their neighborhood] to be exploited or to disturb the nature of what they have there,” Sargent said. “If you live there, you love it.”
They also want to help each other, Bothmer said.
When storms knock out power, residents with generators run cords to plug in their neighbors’ refrigerators and lights. When rising waters are a threat, sandbags are distributed to help prevent flooding, Bothmer said.
“I may not know the names of all of my neighbors, but I guarantee you, if something happens — a hurricane, a power outage — everyone works together,” Bothmer said.
Schools: Mayo Elementary, Central Middle, South River High School.
Transit: The Davidsonville Park & Ride, with commuter bus service to D.C., is just under 12 miles away on Route 424.
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