With temperatures soaring and summer well underway, countless Americans will be spending their Independence Day weekend at the beach. Here we revisit some classic images from the turn-of-the-century to the 1930's of vacations by the sea, from Coney Island to Santa Monica.





Bathers swing along the ropes at Coney Island, 1900. During the early 20th century, Coney Island was a popular summer destination—200,000 postcards were once sent from the local post office on a single day. (Library of Congress)




A couple sits on a log at the water’s edge in Far Rockaway in New York City's Queens borough, 1897. Men and women in day clothes take a stroll in the background. (Getty Images)





Surfers ride the waves with ease at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, circa 1920s. (Getty Images)




Children wade into the surf near the Long Beach pier in 1905. The pier made up part of a larger amusement park called the Pike, which was closed in 1979 and demolished one year later. (Library of Congress)




A young woman has a friendly chat with her swimming instructor at Midland Beach on Staten Island in New York City, circa 1898. (Getty Images)




Beachgoers enjoy the sun in Asbury Park, N.J. (Getty Images)




Passers-by stare out at the waves from the seawall in Galveston, Texas. The wall was built after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the deadliest in U.S. history. In 2008, it was breached by Hurricane Ike. (Library of Congress)




Santa Monica’s Ocean Park bath house was built by Joseph Cather Newsom in 1905. With its distinctive Moorish architecture, the Ocean Beach bath house and other attractions along the shore made Santa Monica one of the most popular vacation destinations in California. (Library of Congress)




In Palm Beach, Fla., a woman shields herself from the glare of the sun with a parasol. (Library of Congress)