EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from the book “The River Binds Us: A Story Told by the People of Crittenden, Eclipse, and Hobson.”

The late 19th and early 20th centuries were the era of simpler entertainment and homemade fun, especially in the isolated watermen’s villages of Suffolk.

Not until 1928, when the three bridges of the James River Bridge System opened, could residents drive easily to neighboring cities and towns for shopping and entertainment.

Even then, many preferred to enjoy their leisure time close to home, and they found plenty of options, even including enjoying time at the “beach,” right here in Suffolk.

Years ago, Rivershore Beach in Eclipse was wide and sandy, a place where families had cookouts and picnics.

Miss Minnie Corson relates in her memoirs:

There was a wonderful sandy beach at the end of Rivershore Road on the James River where even the smallest child could safely play. We went down there with picnic baskets and spent most of the day many times.

There were small saltwater bushes, pine trees and shrubs — it was a playground for many to enjoy.

The August storm in 1933 damaged the beach severely. The 1954 storm, Hazel, changed this sandy beach, taking all the sand and leaving sticky mud, also taking much of the hill with the pine trees, shrubs and marsh grass. This meant no more sandy beach where we could go swimming.

“The rule in the Newman house was children had to be accompanied by an adult to visit Rivershore Beach. I would go to the beach with an adult,” recalls Alese Newman Hazelwood, “and when they had to leave, I would meet another adult coming down to the beach so I could then return and stay longer. Sometimes this lasted all day.”

“The beach was so wide and the water so shallow that you could almost walk to Newport News,” says Arlene Gray Matthews. “I remember attending picnics and swimming parties at the beach and soft shell crabbing.”

Darlene Hogue Alexander says:

There used to be metal stairs from the top of Rivershore Drive down to the beach that were in two sections with a small platform in the middle.

My mother and father took the family to the Rivershore Beach for picnics and cookouts. At the end of the Mt. Zion Christian Church Vacation Bible School, my entire family picnicked at Rivershore Beach, swimming all day, and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows before returning home.

I remember that you could walk out into the water far from shore because it was so shallow and so clear that you could see the sand and your toes. The sand was real soft, almost like quicksand. We would wiggle a foot and leg up to our hip and then pull it out and do it with the other foot.

You could walk from the Rivershore all the way around the peninsula to Bleakhorn Creek.

On Sunday afternoons, about 75 local residents descended upon the beach at the Rivershore for swimming and fun. Willard Moger remembers the water being extremely clear, where you could stand in water up to your neck and still see your toes.

“You could walk out far into the James River, since the water was shallow even during high tide,” he said. “Due to erosion, the Rivershore bank has probably lost over 100 feet during my lifetime.

“I spent a lot of time on the water and at Blinkhorn (aka Bleakhorn) Beach,” remembers Millie Bagnell:
I liked to fish, row and swim. The ladies would picnic at Blinkhorn Beach all day, taking their lunch or cooking out on the beach. The whole community (friends and family) would swim off the Crittenden boats every Sunday, but everyone had to be in church that night.

After I had my two boys, Bob and Terry, I played with them and their cousin, Ginny Bagnell. I rowed them out to Blinkhorn Beach, where they played and learned to swim.

One day, a storm came up, and I had to push the boat back to the house. It took lots of time, and I was eaten by stinging nettles, but all were safe, and that is what mattered.”

Thank you to Suffolk River Heritage for allowing us to publish this excerpt from “The River Binds Us: A Story Told by the People of Crittenden, Eclipse, and Hobson.” For more information about the nonprofit organization or to order a copy of one of its publications on area history, visit www.suffolk-river-heritage.org.