On Tuesday (July 2), thousands of people will throng Compo Beach for the 4th of July fireworks show. (Westport is always ahead of the game.)
Sponsored by Melissa and Doug Bernstein, it’s been an annual tradition for more than 60 years.
Back in the day, the pyrotechnics were shot off on land, near the cannons. Westporters of a certain age remember the smell of the ashes, as they floated down all around.
(Our safety-impaired parents then tossed us in the back seat of the station wagon, facing backwards and without seat belts, for the ride home. But that’s another story.)
Now that the fireworks are shot from a barge offshore, some of the action has shifted to Soundview Drive. That part of the beach is packed. With the road closed to traffic, it becomes a street festival.
Little kids romp. Teenagers and adults meander (separately). Music plays. It’s like California’s Venice Beach, without the bodybuilders.
A century ago though, Soundview Drive looked very different.
Here’s that desolate view. (But check out the very cool bathhouses in the distance).
(Photo courtesy of Bill Scheffler)
The scene will look a lot different on Tuesday.
And mark your calendars for Sunday, July 28. ‘That’s the first-ever Soundview Summer Stroll.
The beach exit road will once again be closed. There will be live music, kids’ activities like face painting and balloons, a photo booth and food trucks — all courtesy of the Compo Beach Improvement Association and “06880.”
See you on the 2nd, and the 28th!
BONUS FRIDAY FLASHBACK: Some fireworks-goers will be dropped off, or arrive by Uber. They’ll avoid the $50 per vehicle ticket charge (hopefully they’ll donate to the Westport PAL anyway — it’s their major fundraiser of the year).
The drop-off point is the area near the volleyball courts, where Compo Beach Road becomes Soundview Drive.
It’s often a busy spot — and not just for the fireworks.
This was the scene when a trolley brought beach-goers from downtown and the railroad station.
On the left, you can see the open pavilion that is still there. On the right — now the Soundview parking lot — is a large building that once housed a restaurant and dance hall.
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Very cool. Traffic and getting out has always been an issue so we go to Burying Hill beach to watch although memories of Vietnam spoil the event for me as the enemy used to send off flare-fireworks every night. Excellent research.
My great grandfather was a trolly driver in Westport. When I see pictures like that I wonder if he was the driver . He was also the first bridge tender of the Cribari Bridge. Just a little family history.
My grandparents used to take the trolley and I remember in the 1950s you could see tiny sections of tracks on the Post Road.
Public transportation like this would do wonders for our traffic congestion in town, lets bring the trolleys back!
For a while there was a minni bus from downtown to the beach with stops along the way.
Dan, is the date of the trolley pic actually 1924? My Dad had a part-time job in the mid-1920s in Norwalk. It was the trolley all the way from Bridgeport. TIA.
I don’t know the exact date of the trolley photo – sorry! – Dan
People always love public transportation until they realize non-Westporter’s will ride it. Enjoy the crowds.