Port Stanley Beach Terminal (Stop 25)
This was the favorite summer destination for thousands of city dwellers in London and St. Thomas. Many have fond memories of a day on the beach, a picnic lunch on the heights, followed by dancing late into the night at the pavilion.
Here is the beach terminal in 1927. It has just been renovated and updated. Starting in the lower left and going clockwise, you can see the hospital, incline railway, the terminal with its umbrella shelters and ticket booth, the check room and lavatories. In the background are the baseball diamonds and the pathway up to the picnic grounds on the hieghts above the beach.
The main terminal entrance.
The L&PS dance pavilion, finished in July of 1926, attracted the top bands of the time including Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman and London's own Guy Lombardo. The lower floor served as a picnic shelter while the second floor contained a 23,000 square foot dance floor that actually extended out over the water to capture the cool lake breezes. The pavilion eventually became known as the Stork Club, and continued as a popular entertainment destination until the early 60s. The structure was finally destroyed by fire in 1979 and more recently, condominiums have been built on the site.
Here is a photo of it soon after it was opened.
Completed in 1917, the Bath House provided beach goers with over 100 private dressing rooms and 322 steel lockers. At that time people were not likely to own swim wear and the bath house facility obliged by providing rented bathing costumes. This was another of many railway owned structures on the beach, all built to attract London dwellers out for a ride on the L&PS!
