Cherry Grove’s Secret Broadway Haven in the 1930s
While Broadway banned gay themes in 1928, theater folks found a secret haven just off Long Island. Cherry Grove on Fire Island grew into America’s first gay beach town in the 1930s.
Theater stars bought homes, built a community house, and staged shows with Broadway talent.
Famous writers like Truman Capote and Patricia Highsmith joined the fun at costume parties where they could truly be themselves.
After dark, when the last ferry left, the Grove came alive with freedom unknown in mainland America.
The historic Cherry Grove Community House still stands today, waiting for you to discover this remarkable chapter in LGBTQ+ history.
Broadway Banned Gay Themes While Cherry Grove Welcomed Them
In the 1930s, gay theater folks needed vacation spots where they could be themselves.
After Broadway banned plays with gay themes in 1928 when police shut down “The Captive,” Cherry Grove became their safe spot. Gay men and women still worked in all areas of theater despite the stage bans.
Theater people already knew the Sayville area, first buying summer homes in Ocean Beach before finding Cherry Grove.
This small Fire Island community soon became both a beacon for gay people and a safe place from a society that pushed them away.
Theater Pros Turned Beach Cottages Into Secret Havens
During the 1930s, actors, writers, and stage crew from New York’s theater world started heading to Cherry Grove.
The out-of-the-way location and simple beach cottages let gay and lesbian visitors be themselves without fear. Cherry Grove stood out because of the New Yorkers who came there.
Summer homes became private spots where theater professionals could hang out openly without worry about being found out or arrested.
The community grew as word spread through Broadway circles about this safe seaside spot.
New York’s “Padlock Law” Made Beach Escapes Essential
After “The Captive” raids, lawmakers changed public decency rules to ban plays “showing sex degeneracy or perversion.”
Publisher Horace Liveright bought the production rights and went to court trying to stop New York Police from closing the play again.
The Wales Padlock Act made showing gay themes a crime that could get actors and producers arrested and theaters closed for a year.
This made Cherry Grove even more valuable as a summer escape where theater people could be themselves.
Locals Got Organized To Protect Their Beach Paradise
Cherry Grove residents formed the Property Owners Association in 1944 to create community rules and protect what they built. The group helped manage property rights, set standards, and make decisions together.
This organization turned Cherry Grove from just a getaway into a real community with structure.
Many early homeowners were successful theater professionals who brought money and connections to help the community grow.
Saturday Night Shows Became The Hottest Ticket On Fire Island
The Arts Project of Cherry Grove started in 1948 with their first big show, the Cherry Grove Follies. The community house quickly became the center for Saturday night shows all summer long.
For 75 years, this space hosted LGBTQ theater, drag shows, cabaret, and cultural events that brought everyone together.
Professional Broadway and Hollywood actors performed alongside locals in big productions that matched city shows.
Famous Writers And Actors Found Freedom By The Sea
Writers like Christopher Isherwood, Patricia Highsmith, and Tennessee Williams all spent time in Cherry Grove. Truman Capote stayed at Carrington House just outside the Grove in 1957.
Theater veterans Frank Carrington, Cheryl Crawford, and Carson McCullers helped direct local shows. Broadway stars Peggy Fears, Nancy Walker, and Betty Garde performed in Saturday night productions.
The poet W. H. Auden joined costume parties and theatrical events, enjoying the creative freedom Cherry Grove offered.
The Last Boat Left At Midnight, And So Did The Rules
The final ferry left at midnight, creating a police-free zone once the boat was gone.
This allowed a lively nightlife unlike city gay bars run by the mob, which one resident called “dark and seedy clubs” where “you always had to be careful that the lights would come on” during police raids.
Gas lamps and candles lit houses for small gatherings where people socialized openly. The water around Fire Island created a natural barrier that kept mainland authorities away.
Police Started Annual Summer Raids To Terrorize Residents
Suffolk County police began raiding Fire Island in 1953, but these attacks got worse in 1964 when Fire Island became a National Seashore.
“Every year there was this tradition of raiding the gay communities of Fire Island and arresting 25, 30, up to 40 fellas, and charging them with sodomy,” said local journalist Karl Grossman.
The Suffolk County News ran headlines like “Five Arrested in Cherry Grove Raid.”
Police gave newspapers the arrestees’ job information to make sure they lost their jobs and faced public shame.
Gay Rights Activists Prepared Residents For Legal Battles
The Mattachine Society got Fire Island’s gay communities ready for court fights with a pamphlet in 1967.
It warned against “shortsighted” guilty pleas and stated: “Intolerable police state tactics continue because of our cooperation.”
The guide told people to only give their name and address if arrested and “Never carry identification that contains the name of your employer.”
Some Cherry Grove residents turned away volunteers handing out these flyers.
The Mattachine Society hired local Suffolk County attorney Benedict Vuturo instead of using New York City lawyers.
The Final Raid Happened Just After Midnight
Suffolk County Police pointed their boat across the Great South Bay just after midnight on August 25, 1968, for what became the last raid. Police arrested 27 men in Cherry Grove that night.
A few pleaded guilty to consensual sodomy and paid $250 fines, but 22 men fought the charges in court. Following the Mattachine Society and Vuturo’s plan, all 27 cases went to full jury trials.
Vuturo argued nobody would have found these men, hidden by trees and darkness, unless police deliberately searched for them.
Juries Said “Not Guilty” And Changed History
“The juries, one after another, concurred, and they found the defendants not guilty, not guilty, not guilty. And that was the end of the police raids on Fire Island.”
Fall 1968 saw jury after jury find the gay men from the summer raid innocent. This finally stopped the Suffolk County Police Department from conducting more raids.
In 2013, The Community House earned a nomination for the New York State Parks and National Registers for Historic Places.
Cherry Grove’s Community House and Theatre became America’s oldest continuously operating gay summer theater, creating a lasting legacy decades before the Stonewall riots.
Visiting Fire Island National Seashore, New York
You can reach Cherry Grove, America’s first gay beach town, by taking the Sayville Ferry from 41 River Road in Sayville for $20. 70 round-trip ($20 cash).
This Fire Island National Seashore community has no entrance fees and hosts summer theater through the Arts Project of Cherry Grove.
Catch their Cherry Picked New Play Series readings weekly at 8pm from July through August. You’ll need to pay parking fees at the Sayville Ferry Terminal.
This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.
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