AN old-time law dictates whether or not a beach-goer is on private property just by how much they get into the ocean.
Certain beaches still use a colonial law from the 1600s to decide if someone is breaking the law or not on its beaches.
Beach-goers should know this one rule before going out on the shore[/caption]
Typically, public ownership begins at the high water mark due to the Public Trust Doctrine.
But one state has a different way to dictate its tidelands, otherwise known as the land underneath the ocean.
Massachusetts – the home to many famed shorelines such as Cape Cod and Nantucket – changed their rule to the low water mark in the 1640s.
Known as the Colonial Ordinances, the law states: get your feet wet if you’re on a private beach, or risk being kicked off.
The rule gives land owners more say than in other coastal states, meaning that private property signs on the beach should catch all beach-goers’ attention.
There are uses that are allowed to the general public, known as “fishing, fowling and navigation.”
This allows things like fishing, kayaking, and more.
Massachusetts is not the only place to have weird laws surrounding the beach.
Florida, another state known for its beaches, does not allow oranges to be sold on the sidewalk.
Up to 30 days in jail could be given to sellers without a permit, according to the New York Post.
A timeline of the Gilgo Beach murders
A community on Long Island, New York, was left looking for answers after the remains of numerous people were found in Gilgo Beach. This is a timeline of events that led to the arrest of suspect Rex Heuermann.
April 1996: The first remains are found in connection to the Gilgo Beach murders. Authorities referred to the victim as “Fire Island Jane Doe.”
June 1997: The partial remains of a woman, known only as Peaches, are found in a bin at Hempstead Lake State Park.
September 2000: The remains of a woman are found in Manorville, New York. She was known as Manorville Jane Doe for decades.
July 26, 2003: The remains of Jessica Taylor are found in Manorville. Her skull was found eight years later.
July 2007: Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25, goes missing. She was reported missing by a friend.
July 2009: Melissa Barthelemy goes missing.
May 2010: Shannan Gilbert vanishes. She called the police before she went missing.
June 2010: Megan Waterman goes missing. Security footage showed her leaving a Holiday Inn Express hotel in Hauppauge, Long Island.
September 2010: Amber Lynn Costello disappears. She left her home in West Babylon, New York, without her cell phone. But, she was never reported missing.
September 2010: Hikers in the Long Island Pine Barrens discover more remains of the Manorville woman.
December 2010: The remains of Barthelemy are found by investigators in Gilgo Beach. The investigators were searching for Gilbert at the time. Later, investigators found three other bodies which were wrapped in burlap at Gilgo Beach. Authorities announced a serial killer may have murdered the females.
January 2011: The remains of Waterman, Barthelemy, Costello, and Brainard-Barnes are formally identified. They are known as the Gilgo Four.
March 2011: Human remains are found near Gilgo Beach.
April 2011: The bodies of three other victims are found near Gilgo Beach. Two other victims were found near Jones Beach, about five miles from where the other bodies were found near Gilgo Beach.
May 2011: Cops announce six more sets of human remains were found.
November 2011: The Suffolk County Police Department announces the victims found near Gilgo Beach were most likely sex workers. They believe one person may be responsible for the murders.
December 2011: The remains of Shannan Gilbert are found in Gilgo Beach. Cops at the time didn’t believe she had been murdered. Gilbert’s remains were discovered around a year and a half after vanishing.
December 2015: The FBI joins the probe into the murders.
May 2020: The remains of Manorville Jane Doe are identified as Valerie Mack. Mack was working as an escort in Philadelphia when she disappeared. She was last seen by her family in New Jersey in 2000.
January 2022: A new task force is created to investigate the murders.
May 2022: Cops release a 22-minute phone call from the night Gilbert disappeared.
July 13, 2023: Authorities announce the arrest of Rex Heuermann. The suspect was arrested in Manhattan. He was charged with the deaths of Costello, Barthelemy, and Waterman. He was named the prime suspect in the murder of Brainard-Barnes, but cops did not charge him.
August 4, 2023: The woman, known as Fire Island Jane Doe, formally identified as Karen Vergata, 34.
October 18, 2023: Attorney John Ray says new evidence has connected Heuermann to victims Gilbert and Vergata.
January 16, 2024: Heuermann is charged with murdering Brainard-Barnes. He pleaded not guilty.
December 17, 2024: Heuermann is charged with murdering Valerie Mack.
And if you’re visiting Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, don’t plan on taking sand home.
The city has made it illegal to take sand off of the beaches.
Last year, an incident involving a 2-year-old led to a New Jersey shore town banning digging larger holes on the beach.
WNBC reported that Sea Girt put a new rule in place that states holes have to be filled before leaving the beach, and can only be dug 12 inches deep.
The rule started after a 2-year-old boy was buried alive at Neptune Place Beach after the ground collapsed underneath of him.
The boy survived, and was dug out of the sand by his father.
The father and boy were reportedly not digging the hole at the time of the incident.
The Massachusetts law was changed in the 1640s – and is still in effect today[/caption]
