Lewes commission seeks to name beach after Johnnie Walker

Editor’s note: A previous version of this article used a different spelling of Walker’s first name. The city has since updated the proper spelling.

When asked to think about someone to honor in the effort to give Beach 2 in Lewes a name, the city’s African American heritage commission said there is only one person to consider – Johnnie Walker.

“I don’t see how it could be named for anyone else,” said Bill Collick at the commission’s July 15 meeting.

Walker was the proprietor of a black-owned establishment at what is now Beach 2.

“When they built Johnnie Walker’s place, that was the place we could go on weekends and listen to bands on Saturday,” said the Rev. George Edwards. “Then we’d go to church on Sunday. If I tell someone the history of the No. 2 beach, I always bring up Johnnie Walker. He had a place where you could sit down, listen to music or you could eat.”

Parks and Recreation Commissioner Kay Carnahan recently introduced an idea to assign names to the city’s two guarded beaches, which for years have been known by the generic names of Beach 1 and Beach 2. With so much untold or unrecognized African American history at Beach 2, she said she believed it was an opportunity to honor an African American individual and install informational panels to tell the history. 

According to members of the African American heritage commission, Beach 2 was a welcoming place for African Americans from all over the mid-Atlantic Region.

“It was a community beach,” said Dee Lott. “There were church services held there. There were baptisms. There were many happy memories there. Mr. Johnnie Walker was just a wonderful person, and I really think he deserves the honor.”

At one time, the beach also had a pavilion.

“It was a place where young people and old people all had a place to go,” said Trina Brown-Hicks. “I remember the pavilion that was on the beach, and people would come all day.”

The beach had its own African American lifeguards, she said, and it was a place where many children learned how to swim.

It was a community meeting place. Brown-Hicks’ grandfather, Marshall Lockwood, would host Fourth of July activities at the beach, everything from pie-eating contests to races. 

Commissioner Rachel Grier-Reynolds, who is white, said she grew up in Milford and would drive by the beach.

“I would be so angry that the town of Lewes would divide people and keep people from enjoying the beach together,” she said. “I just thought it was awful. So for me to hear all the joy and the baptisms and the food and the partying, I’m really amazed that you took that and turned it into something so cool.”

Collick said Beach 2 was of great value to the African American community.

“There truly wasn’t anything awful about Johnnie Walker’s beach at that time. In fact, it was truly special,” he said.

The African American heritage commission is expected to officially recommend Johnnie Walker at the August meeting as the person they would like to honor. The recommendation would then go before the parks and recreation commission in August for their consideration. If both groups are on board, the recommendation will be presented to mayor and city council.

“I was not aware of the emotional impact of Beach 2 to so many people,” Carnahan said. “I want to find some way to express that. I hope people have photos and memories to share.”

Anyone who would like to share photographs of Johnnie Walker’s establishment, the pavilion or the beach during that time can contact Trina Brown-Hicks, Lewes African American Heritage Commission secretary, at imtlyte@gmail.com or call 302-752-8112.