In the wake of the American Civil War, Black communities were banned from many public facilities and services, including most beaches. In response, some wealthy African Americans made it their mission to establish beaches where their community was welcome. In 1935, the Jacksonville Afro-American Life Insurance Company purchased American Beach, the first Black-owned beach in Florida.
Within American Beach sits ‘NaNa’ the sand dune. Nana is 60 feet tall and takes up over eight acres, making it the largest sand dune in Florida. While the rest of the beach was developed, Nana was preserved by the work of MaVynne Betsch, affectionately known as “the beach lady.” Having spent several decades as an Opera singer in Europe, when she returned to the United States in 1975, Betsch eventually settled in American Beach. She spent the next 25 years fighting to preserve the dune, local flora and fauna, and the history of this historic beach.
Eventually, her efforts allowed the National Park Service to purchase and preserve 10 acres of American Beach, finally adding it to the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve in 2005.
