North Beach Mayor Mark Frazer calls it “a houseful of memories.” The Bayside History Museum reopened Saturday, May 4 in its new location, a two-story building on 4th Street that has played a role in town and Calvert County history.
Bayside History Museum Inc. President Grace Mary Brady thanked the local elected officials who helped procure funds and broker a deal to make the building, which most recently was the North Beach Community Center, available as the museum’s new home. Brady also praised the dedication of nearly 70 volunteers who transformed the facility’s game and meeting rooms into a local history showcase. “We’ve been here every weekend since Christmas,” said Brady, who also acknowledged the generosity and residents and family members of past residents who donated the exhibited artifacts. “It took the willingness of people from the Beach who gave us their treasures,” said Brady.
The idea for a museum to celebrate the northeast section of Calvert County—along with the adjacent bayside segment of South Anne Arundel—was hatched at the start of the millennium. In addition to its obvious marine and resort milieu, the area had a wild, eccentric side plus was a significant location in two historic events—the War of 1812 and expansion of the Boy Scouts of America.
The original Bayside History Museum opened in the fall of 2004. Its location was right next to the county-owned North Beach Community Center, in the historic Charlie Mead and Thelma Robinson House. The additional exhibit items quickly exhausted the already limited space in the old house, which also posed challenges to the handicapped.
“I loved the old museum but when you go inside [the new location] it will blow you away,” said Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. [D-District 27]. “This is about North Beach, it’s about growing up. It’s about the Renaissance of the town.”
Calvert County Commissioner Pat Nutter [R], who grew up in the Twin Beach area and had been a code enforcement officer for North Beach prior to his 2010 election, recalled his conversation with Frazer about the possibility of the town taking over the community center and converting it into a museum. “I said ‘I think that will work,’” Nutter stated.
While the other four commissioners were on board, steps had to be taken to assure that the county recreation programs would find a new home, which they did in the nearby Bayside Boys and Girls Club building on Dayton Avenue. The commissioners leased the community center—which has also been the site of a library, senior cen
