Issue Seven Spring 2021

In Praise of Nahant’s Parklands
and its Seaside Golf Course
By Diane Monteith and Elizabeth Kessin Berman
From the earliest of times, there has always been a desire
to preserve the amazing open spaces of our beautiful island.
Native Americans kept Nahant open for hunting and
fishing; the first European settlers dedicated the island as
pasture land. In the 19th century, Nahant’s first permanent
residents lived on large estates that proudly showcased
open vistas to the sea. Later residents built houses near
the sea, but precious few were exclusive, sea-front villas
that blocked the public’s view of the ocean. As a pleasant
consequence, Nahant has broad and accessible beaches.
We consider ourselves fortunate in 2021 to walk on beachfront
expanses that many towns on the North Shore lack.
Short Beach, Doggie Beach, Tudor Beach, Forty Steps
Beach, and the sea-bordering Willow and Marginal Roads
-- these are much loved wide-open spaces for walkers,
joggers, beach-goers, bicyclists and four-legged creatures.
Over time, parks and playgrounds were added to the Town’s
roster of open spaces. However these recreation areas are
quite remarkable. The playground near Short Beach has
views of the ocean from east and west. The Lowlands is
adjacent to two beaches and the Flash Road fields have
views of beautiful sunsets over Broad Sound. Our children
can play under graciously tall trees at the Library playground.
Marjoram Park overlooks the wharf and Crystal
Beach. There are also two stately memorial parks. One
is on Nahant Road, near the Coast Guard Station, and
the other is at the end of Nahant Road, set between Canoe
Beach and Swallow Cave Road. We also have a park
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dedicated exclusively for the birds called the “Thicket.”
The communal effort to preserve Nahant’s open spaces began
in earnest after the middle of the 20th century when
the United States Government classified as “surplus” two
of the last undeveloped areas on Nahant -- East Point and
Bailey’s Hill. These were the areas that the government had
requisitioned for military use. Because of Nahant’s position
on the northern reaches of Boston Harbor, both East
Point and Bailey’s Hill, with their commanding views of
the sea from all points, factored prominently into the nation’s
defenses. Beginning in the 1960s, the Army decommissioned
East Point in two portions. The lower portion of
East Point was first offered to the Town for a purchase price.
But when the Town deferred on the opportunity, some 20-
plus acres were granted to Northeastern University under a
program overseen by the Department of Health, Education
and Welfare. Just a decade later, the Town decided to purchase
the remaining 8 acres of the coastal headlands when
the Government, in turn, decommissioned the higher portion
where the Lodge Mansion once stood. Nearly two decades
later, the highlands of East Point were transformed
into the spectacular Lodge Park under the careful guidance
of Nahant’s first Open Space Committee and others.
Preserving the open spaces of Bailey’s Hill and its neighboring
parcels has its own unique story. When the Army
declared as “surplus” the fortified area of Bailey’s Hill,
the land, other than the military housing, transitioned
to dedicated parkland. But the area adjacent to Bai-
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