New Silver Beach facts for kids

New Silver Beach is a lovely beach and a small village in Massachusetts. It is mostly a place where people spend their summers. This village is the biggest settlement located on Wild Harbor. Wild Harbor is a natural bay found on the northern shore of Buzzards Bay.

The village is part of Cape Cod, a famous area in Massachusetts. It is in the census-designated place (CDP) of North Falmouth, which is in the town of Falmouth. People first settled here in 1893. It became a popular seaside resort for families from Boston, Massachusetts who wanted to enjoy the ocean.

History of New Silver Beach

The first buildings in New Silver Beach were put up in 1893. At this time, going to the beach for swimming was becoming very popular. The first streets were laid out like a star, with four roads spreading out from the waterfront.

Building homes here was a good business for developers. By 1898, a company called Silver Beach Water Company planned a new area. This new part was called New Silver Heights. It was built on higher ground to the west of the first village.

Around 1900, most of the land was developed. New Silver Beach became known as a fashionable place to visit. In the early 1900s, the Silver Beach Hotel opened. It was popular at first, especially when cars became common. However, the hotel later closed down and was taken apart.

In the 1920s, many fancy houses were built nearby on Nyes Neck. While many old homes still stand, only two grand mansions from that time remain today.

A very strong storm, the New England Hurricane of 1938, caused a lot of damage to the village. Rebuilding took many years, even after World War II. During this time, another nearby beach, Old Silver Beach, became more famous. This was because the Sea Crest Hotel was built there.

Even though New Silver Beach lost some of its fame, it remained a popular holiday spot. New homes and areas were built in the 1980s and 1990s. This helped the village stay a desirable place for people to visit for their holidays.

Sailing and Yachting in Wild Harbor

Sailing has a long and exciting history in New Silver Beach. In the 1920s, the New Silver Anchorage was dug out from Wild Harbor. This created a safe place for Beetle Cat boats. These small boats were very popular among wealthy families on Cape Cod.

Before World War II, organized sailing was very active in Wild Harbor. However, during the war, people worried about U-boats (submarines). This made sailing less popular for a while.

On August 30, 1953, the Wild Harbor Yacht Club was started. It was located on Wickertree Road and mainly served New Silver Beach. The club became officially recognized by the United States Sailing Association the next year.

The club had a lot of success in the 1980s. They won the Southern Massachusetts Beetle Cat championship many times. In 1990, the club started focusing on a new type of racing boat, the 420 class. These boats were already popular in Europe and Australia.

Today, Wild Harbor is a strong competitor in sailing. They do very well in races around Buzzards Bay. The Wild Harbor Yacht Club has helped train many talented sailors. Three of their members have become college All-Americans. One member was even part of the US International 470 team in the 2000 Olympics.

Geography of New Silver Beach

New Silver Beach at high tide from the access at the intersection of Moses Road and Ocean View

The original village of New Silver Beach is built on a sandy floodplain. This is a flat area near the tidal Wild Harbor River. The river flows into and out of Wild Harbor. Wild Harbor is a shallow, natural bay that the village faces.

The older part of the village is separated from the newer Silver Beach Heights. They are divided by marshland that is kept safe for nature. The larger New Silver Area also includes other newer neighborhoods. These are Nyes Neck, Seascape, and Wild Harbor Estates.

Wild Harbor Bay

Wild Harbor is a very important natural feature in the area. It is a shallow, natural bay where the Wild Harbor River meets the sea. Two pieces of land, called headlands, form the bay. Nyes Neck peninsula is to the north, and Crow's Point is to the south.

The bay opens to the southwest. This is the direction where the summer sea breeze usually blows. Because of this, the harbor often has rough waves and strong, predictable wind patterns.

Silver Beach Features

The beach itself is on the northeast shore of Wild Harbor. It stretches between the Wild Harbor River's estuary (where the river meets the sea) and the channel of the New Silver Anchorage. The main part of the village is right next to the northern section of the beach.

Moses Road runs along the water. It connects two public entrances to the beach. These are at the ends of Ocean View and Silver Beach Avenue. The beach is protected from erosion by several rock walls called jetties.

The Wild Harbor River constantly brings sand to the southern end of the beach. This sand builds up to form sandbars. At low tide, these sandbars create a large network of small islands. Another deeper sandbar is about ten yards from the shoreline. It runs in a curve parallel to the beach. At low tide, this deeper sandbar can be under one to two feet of water. The water at Silver Beach is usually warm for Cape Cod. This is because the beach is inside a bay that opens into the larger Buzzards Bay.

Architecture in the Village

Victorian cottage style homes on Silver Beach Avenue in the village center

The village has many beautiful old buildings from the 1800s. A lot of the homes in the older part of the village are original buildings. Others have been carefully rebuilt to look just like the originals.

The village center has wonderful examples of the American Victorian cottage style. This style was very popular across New England before the 1900s.