For this installment of Postcards From the Past, I have two vintage postcards that were sent to me by a friend and podcast listener, M. Green. He included a handwritten note explaining that they show Paragon Park and Nantasket Beach in Hull, Massachusetts, a place once well-known and deeply loved by generations of people from the Boston area. He thought the postcards would be interesting to share with everyone through Ancestral Findings, and he was right.
I have been running Ancestral Findings since 1995 as a genealogy hobby that I enjoy. My wife helps with the free lookups, but otherwise it is just me researching, writing, recording the podcast, and sharing the history I find along the way. That makes it especially meaningful when a reader or listener takes the time to send something from a personal collection for the rest of us to see. These postcards did not come from a museum display or a planned research project. M. Green had them, thought of this series, and mailed them to me because he believed their history was worth sharing.
I agree with him.
The first postcard gives us a broad view of Paragon Park. It looks down over part of the amusement area, where we can see rides, walkways, railings, buildings, and visitors moving through the park. A smaller ride sits near the front of the scene, while a large wooden roller coaster rises above the distant buildings. That coaster seems to dominate the entire place, and it is easy to imagine how exciting it must have looked to a child arriving for the first time.
The second postcard is titled “A Day on the Sands at Nantasket Beach, Mass.” This one shows families spread across the beach and wading in the shallow water. Behind them are the buildings and rides of Paragon Park, including the large wooden coaster. Cars line the road between the beach and the park, showing just how close the two attractions are.
A family could spend part of the day near the water and then walk over to the amusement park for rides, games, and something to eat. It was the kind of place where a full summer day could pass without anyone having to travel very far once they arrived.
That is one of the things I enjoy most about old postcards. The main subject may be a beach, a hotel, a railroad station, or an amusement park, but the smaller details often tell just as much of the story. In these two cards, you can study the clothing people wore, the design of the rides, the fences, the roads, the parked cars, and the general layout of the area. None of those details seemed unusual at the time, but now they help us understand how the place looked and how people used it.
Nantasket Beach had been drawing visitors long before Paragon Park opened. Its location near Boston made it a popular summer destination for families who wanted to leave the crowded city for a day by the water. People arrived by boat, train, streetcar, and later by automobile. Over time, hotels, restaurants, dance halls, bathing facilities, and amusement attractions grew around the beach.
Paragon Park opened in 1905 and soon became one of the best-known amusement parks in New England. It had rides, games, food stands, arcades, live entertainment, and attractions for both children and adults. Families returned year after year, and for many people from the Boston area, a trip to Nantasket Beach and Paragon Park became part of summer life.
The large wooden roller coaster shown in both postcards became one of the park’s most recognizable attractions. It rose above the shoreline and could be seen from a distance. Children arriving at the beach would have spotted it before they ever reached the entrance. Some probably could not wait to ride it. Others may have been quite content watching from below.
The park offered much more than the coaster. There were smaller rides, games, food, music, and places where families could spend time together. The exact attractions changed through the years, but the park remained an important gathering place for generations.
That is where postcards like these begin to connect with genealogy.
A census record may tell us that a family lived in Boston. A birth certificate may tell us when a child was born. A marriage record may tell us where two people began their life together. Those records are necessary, but they do not tell us where a family went on a Saturday afternoon in July.
Perhaps they traveled to Nantasket Beach.
Maybe the children ran into the water while the adults found a place on the sand. Later, they may have walked over to Paragon Park, bought something to eat, played a game, or stood in line for a ride. Someone may have purchased one of these postcards before heading home.
We may never know the names of the people shown in these scenes, but we understand the kind of day they were having. Most families have memories connected to places like this. It may have been an amusement park, a county fair, a swimming hole, a drive-in theater, or a local picnic ground. These places became part of family history because people returned to them and carried those memories for years.
Paragon Park closed in 1984, and much of the property was later redeveloped. The park that so many people remembered was gone. One important piece remained, however. The historic carousel survived and still helps preserve part of the old park’s history.
That is another reason postcards become more important with time. Buildings disappear. Roads change. Businesses close. Amusement rides are removed. A place that once seemed permanent may look completely different a few decades later.
The postcard remains.
Neither of these cards appears to have been mailed. There are no stamps, postmarks, addresses, or personal messages on the backs. One was published by the South Shore Novelty Company of Hull, Massachusetts. The other was published by Martin’s of Nantasket Beach.
Although the cards were never mailed, someone still purchased and saved them. They may have been kept as souvenirs from a family trip. They may have been placed in a drawer, an album, or a box and passed from one person to another. Whatever happened, they survived long enough to reach M. Green and then make their way to Ancestral Findings.
His handwritten note has now become part of their history too.
I am grateful that he thought of this series and trusted me to share it. These postcards give us a chance to remember a place that once meant a great deal to many families. They also remind us that family history is not limited to names, dates, and official records. It includes where people went, what they enjoyed, and how they spent time together.
Readers and podcast listeners are always welcome to send postcards they would like considered for a future installment. The card does not need to show a famous landmark. It might show a small town, a school, a church, a hotel, a railroad station, a courthouse, a neighborhood, or a family vacation destination.
Please include whatever you know about the postcard, where it came from, and whether it is connected to your family. A simple card can lead us into a part of local or family history that deserves to be remembered.
And thanks again to M. Green for sending these two postcards and giving all of us the chance to look back at a summer day at Nantasket Beach and Paragon Park.
