Leslie and Alicia Forbes opened Juanita Beach resort in 1921, and with their five children, Dorris, Betty, Joyce, Joanne, and Dorr, ran the beach for 35 years. The 20’s and 30’s were exciting and busy years, with thousands of visitors coming to the beach each summer. Pearl Harbor and the start of WWII changed life in Juanita as blackout restrictions and gasoline rationing hit the resort businesses, few autos were allowed on the roads, and the juke boxes in the dance halls were unplugged. A bus load of sailors arrived each day from Kirkland naval barracks with recruits that could not swim and were put through a water safety course, and Red Cross swimming lessons were given on weekday mornings. During the war years, Leslie Forbes worked at the Houghton shipyards. After the war, the Forbes leased out the beach with the goal of retiring, but in 1950 they took back the beach and went through extensive renovations. The old pier and the bathhouse were refurbished, a new more modern slide was added, and the boats were painted and canoes shellacked. Newsletters were sent out and ads appeared in local papers about the re-opening of Juanita Beach, and the Forbes’ youngest daughter became the weekday proprietress for the next 6 summers. Admission to the beach ranged from 15¢ to 25¢, checking clothes cost 15¢, and renting boats ran from 50¢ to $1. Leslie and Alicia Forbes were adamant that their property become public land and refused offers from developers. In May 1956, Juanita Beach Resort was sold to King County Parks for $46,650, and in June 1957 King County Parks Department purchased the rest of the Forbes property directly across the street from the beach. The Forbes family lived in the house that is still standing across the street from Juanita Beach.