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Colonial Beach, Virginia

Colonial Beach, Virginia
Town
Pier and Riverboat Off Track Betting, Restaurant, and Lounge.
Pier and Riverboat Off Track Betting, Restaurant, and Lounge.
Official seal of Colonial Beach, Virginia
Seal
Nickname(s): Golf Cart Town, Playground on the Potomac
Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia
Coordinates: 38°15′N 76°58′W / 38.250°N 76.967°W / 38.250; -76.967
Country United States
State Virginia
County Westmoreland
Founded 1892
Area
 • Total 2.8 sq mi (7.4 km2)
 • Land 2.6 sq mi (6.7 km2)
 • Water 0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2)
Elevation 120 ft (36 m)
Population (2010)
 • Total 3,542
 • Density 1,362.3/sq mi (528.7/km2)
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 22443
Area code(s) 804
FIPS code 51-18400
GNIS feature ID 1493549
Website http://www.colonialbeachva.net/

Colonial Beach is a town in Westmoreland County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,542 at the 2010 census. Possessing the second-largest beachfront in the state, Colonial Beach was a popular resort town in the early to mid-20th century, before the Chesapeake Bay Bridge made ocean beaches on the Eastern Shore of Maryland more accessible to visitors from Washington, D.C. The family of Alexander Graham Bell maintained a summer home in Colonial Beach, the Bell House, which still stands today. Sloan Wilson, author of The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, retired and died in Colonial Beach. George Washington, the first President of the United States, was born near here at what is now the George Washington Birthplace National Monument. As of 2011, the James Monroe Family Home Site, birthplace of President James Monroe, now has a small monument to him.

The town was first settled in 1650 by the great-great grandfather of President James Monroe, as Monrovia.

Colonial Beach emerged as a bathing and fishing resort in the late 19th century known as the "Playground on the Potomac." Prior to automobile travel, most visitors arrived by boat from Washington, D.C.

The town was incorporated on 25 February 1892 and there was extensive construction of houses, summer cottages, and hotels. Arguably the most famous of these structures is the Alexander Graham Bell house which still stands on Irving Avenue as the Bell House Bed and Breakfast.


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