A bird stands near people waiting on South Padre Island to watch the SpaceX Starship rocket launch from Starbase, Texas, on May 27, 2025. SpaceX mission control lost contact with the upper stage of Starship as it leaked fuel, spun out of control, and made an uncontrolled reentry after flying halfway around the world, likely disintegrating over the Indian Ocean, officials said. (Photo by Sergio Flores/AFP Photo)

British model and UK Love Island's star India Reynolds attends the boohooMAN Dinner to celebrate the launch of BoohooMAN collaboration with Tommy Fury at Sushisamba City in London, England on September 2, 2019. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

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.

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves attraction is a cave at Waitomo on the North Island of New Zealand, known for its population of glowworms, Arachnocampa luminosa. This species is found exclusively in New Zealand. They are around the size of an average mosquito. This cave is part of the Waitomo Caves system that includes the Ruakuri Cave and the Aranui Cave.

A young performer cries as she parades during the Bun Festival on Cheung Chau island in Hong Kong Tuesday, May 6, 2014. Bun Festival, the Taoist God of the Sea, is worshipped and evil spirits are believed to be scared away by loud gongs and drums during the procession. The celebration includes bun scrambling, parades, opera performances, and children dressed in colorful costumes. (Photo by Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

A instructor (2nd L) from the Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy assists participants of a monofin swimming summer workshop as they practise floating in the water of a private pool in Paranaque city, metro Manila April 5, 2014. The Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy workshops, which were originally conducted on the beaches of Boracay Island, central Philippines, currently cost 1,800 pesos per person ($40) for a two-hour session. (Photo by Romeo Ranoco/Reuters)

Biologists Jenna Cormany (L) and Lauryn Wright of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources help to release a leatherback turtle in Isle of Palms, South Carolina March 12, 2015. The 475-pound turtle was the first living leatherback turtle to be recovered in South Carolina and one of only a handful ever treated at rehabilitation facilities in the United States. It was found March 7 on the beach on Yawkey-South Island Reserve, a 3.5-mile-long (5.6-km-long) barrier island and wildlife preserve near Georgetown, South Carolina. (Photo by Randall Hill/Reuters)