As Longshore swings into the summer season, officials continue to debate a renovation plan.
More than 60 years after the town bought a failing country club, to avoid a development of 180 homes on prime property, it’s time for an upgrade. A golf clubhouse, pickleball courts, walking paths and much more are on the table.
I thought I’d seen all the photos available of Longshore, from its early days as the nation’s first municipally owned country club.
But Pamela Docters recently posted a “new” old image on Facebook.
Among the notable features:
- The partly hidden “lighthouse,” just below the marina
- Creaky, wooden bathhouses, below and to the left of the lighthouse
- The old saltwater pools, with a bit of sandy beach nearby
- Cabins, at the site of the current
- Longshore Sailing School
- Trees!
What do you notice? Click “Comments” below.
(Since 2009, “06880” has chronicled the ups and downs of Longshore. That’s one small part of what we do. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Early 60s? Not a single building in this photo remains today. Nearly all the trees are gone too. Not a complaint. Just an observation.
I took my very young girls to the little beach next to the old lighthouse in 1968. Early in the morning. I would ge coffee at the small rudimentary refreshment place. Long ago!
In the mid-Sixties, us kids swam in the pool, then with age, took rowboat lessons, then sailing in Bluejays, then Aquacat and finally racing techniques sailing classes off the beach behind the pool… until chasing girls, helping run the town coffee house (mandated by the town to keep teens off the streets and becoming Hippies!) and jamming with friends in basements took over. Still sail to this day, thanks to Longshore!
Summer dances for teens on the patio adjacent to the old bathhouses..1965-1969ish? Complete with live bands…
Not before 1966. Staples cafeteria. Lord, it stank of urine down by the bath houses then. Maybe a turn on?
I remember that pool very well, and it was hyper-chlorinated fresh water, not salt, and had funky little “cabanas” all in a row. It was a social Mecca and the place I learned about sunburns.
When the town bought the Longshore property in April of 1960 for 1.9 million bucks to salvage a bankrupt property built in the midst of the Depression in 1929 it did so to develop a recreational center for the towns folks only. It was a time of private clubs being in vogue and icon First Selectman Herb Baldwin did NOT want Westport to “be a town only for the rich (sorry Herb).” Oh, and Sarah, in 1960 and for two years following, the Longshore swimming pool was salt water. So bad, you acquired “red eyes.”
Also for you golfers, the present 18th dog leg fairway was a driving range. Pro Buck wanted lesson money so if you sliced it off the first tee, good luck finding your ball among the range ball. Different times. But much more fun.