North Carolina

In New Hanover county during the Lumina Pavilion days, it was a three-story, 25,000-square foot dance hall that served as the hub of the East Coast social scene from 1905 to 1973. My mother used to go there with her high school friends on the weekends to dance. You could take the train almost all the way to the shoreline. Where the train stopped, the trolley cars took over the route.

More about Lumina Pavilion here:

Lumina Pavilion Wrightsville Beach
Back in 1905 a brightly lit pavilion in south Wrightsville Beach known as the “Fun Spot of the South” opened for the first time.

It was referred to by many names, “The Pleasure Palace of the South,” “The Fun Spot of the South,” and “The Palace of Light.”

Lumina Pavilion in Wrightsville Beach NC

In June 1905, Hugh MacRae who owned Consolidated Railways Light & Power Company, Wilmington’s electric utility, opened Lumina in a location near the last stop of Wrightsville’s electric trolley line.

His motivation for creating Lumina was to promote beach tourism, encourage folks to ride on the trolleys and start to use electricity.

He lit up Lumina with over a thousand incandescent bulbs lighting up his three story, 25,000 square foot dance hall.

The Lumina building was bright enough for sailors to navigate their ships by it.

The ground floor of Lumina featured dressing rooms, a promenade, a bowling alley, refreshment stands, a movie theater and other amusements.

The second level had a ballroom/dance floor with a restaurant with a fireplace for cold nights and a balcony and band shell for orchestras and big bands, like Cab Calloway’s or Louis Armstrong’s.

More

https://islandlifenc.com/lumina-pavilion-wrightsville-beach/

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