Beverly Shores began life as a planned resort community. The Chicago, Lake Shore & South Bend railroad began to provide service from South Bend to Chicago shortly after 1900. The Frederick H. Bartlett Company, which was at the time one of Chicago's largest real-estate developers, bought 3,600 acres in the area in 1927, and platted thousands of homesites. He named the prospective development Lake Shore, North Shore Beach and South Shore Acres. The Great Depression dampened its prospects, and many of the plots were never built on.
Robert Bartlett, Frederick Bartlett's brother, purchased the properties in 1933, He named the entire development after his daughter Beverly,and continued to develop its infrastructure with roads, a school, a golf course, and a hotel. He purchased and relocated sixteen structures from Chicago's 1933-34 Century of Progress World's Fair, four of which were transported by barges on Lake Michigan.
The community was incorporated in 1947.
