Bailey's Beach is an elite private beach and club in Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

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History

Bailey's Beach in Newport Rhode Island was:

founded in the 1890s after new trolley service gave mill workers from Fall River ready access to Easton's Beach, a wide expanse closer to downtown Newport that the well-to-do had claimed as their own. Not wishing to associate with people who took their lunches in buckets, high society relocated several miles to Spouting Rock, smaller and often seaweedy but safely beyond the reach of trolleys. Today, approximately 500 families belong, and for the most part, new members are added only when old ones die.

According to the New York Times:

Spouting Rock Beach Association, named for a geological formation, and membership in it tends to define summer life here in ways that are sometimes difficult to comprehend, even for insiders.

The organization has attracted notable members of nearby families such as the Vanderbilt family

Vanderbilt family

The Vanderbilt family is an American family of Dutch origin prominent during the Gilded Age. It started off with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthropy...

 and Astor family

Astor family

The Astor family is a Anglo-American business family of German descent notable for their prominence in business, society, and politics.-Founding family members:...

. The 1938 Hurricane destroyed the original clubhouse, and the current clubhouse and cabanas appear relatively modest to passersby. The Spouting Rock Beach Association also owns the elite Newport Reading Room

Newport Reading Room

The Newport Reading Room , founded in 1854, is a gentlemen's club located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Its primary building features an actual book reading room...

. Bailey's Beach was one of the centers of elite Newport social life along with other institutions such as the Redwood Library, Newport Country Club

Newport Country Club

Newport Country Club, founded in 1893, is a historic private golf club in Newport, Rhode Island in the United States that hosted both the first U.S. Amateur Championship and the first U.S...

, Trinity Church, Clambake Club, Newport Reading Room

Newport Reading Room

The Newport Reading Room , founded in 1854, is a gentlemen's club located on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. Its primary building features an actual book reading room...

, New York Yacht Club

New York Yacht Club

The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...

 summer clubhouse and the Newport Casino

Newport Casino

The Newport Casino is located at 186-202 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on February 27, 1987.- 1879 - 1900 :The complex was commissioned in 1880 by James Gordon Bennett, Jr...

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Despite the exclusive status of the beach club and membership, the southeast end of the beach is open to the public and known colloquially as Reject's Beach.