Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
The Waccamaw people used the Long Bay river for travel and fished along the shore near Little River. Waties Island, a primary barrier island along Long Bay, holds evidence of burial mounds and shell remains left by the visiting tribe. European settlers arrived in the late 18th century to extend the plantation system toward the ocean. Records from this period are sparse, with most history pieced together from English colonial land grant documents. These early settlers gained mixed results, producing unremarkable quantities of indigo and tobacco as their major commodity crops. The coast's sandy soil meant that most crop yields were of inferior quality. Before the American Revolution, the area along what is now the Grand Strand was essentially uninhabited. Several families received land grants along the coast, including the Withers family. John, Richard, William, and Mary Withers received an area around present-day Wither's Swash. A separate grant went to James Minor, covering a barrier island named Minor Island, which is now known as Waties Island off the coast near Little River. Mary Withers's gravestone at Prince George Winyah Parish Church speaks to the remoteness of the former Strand. She gave up the pleasures of Society and retired to Long Bay, where she resided a great part of her life devoted to the welfare of her children. As the American colonies gained independence, the area remained essentially unchanged, and the coast stayed barren. George Washington scouted out the Southern states during his term, traveling down the King's Highway. He stayed a night at Windy Hill, part of present-day North Myrtle Beach, and was led across Wither's Swash to Georgetown by Jeremiah Vereen. The Withers family remained one of the few settlers around Myrtle Beach for the next half-century. In 1822, a strong hurricane swept the house of R. F. Withers into the ocean, drowning 18 people inside. The tragedy made the Withers family decide to abandon their plots along the coast. Left unattended, the area began to return to forest.
The Burroughs and Collins Company of Conway purchased much of the Withers family's land in 1881. The growing community was called New Town around the start of the 20th century. A post office named Withers was established to serve the site of the old Swash in 1888. On the 28th of February 1899, Burroughs and Collins received a charter to build the Conway & Seashore Railroad to transport timber from the coast to inland customers. The railroad began daily service on the 1st of May 1900, with two wood-burning locomotives. One of the engines was dubbed The Black Maria and came second-hand from a North Carolina logging operation. After the railroad was finished, employees of the lumber and railroad company would take train flatcars down to the beach area on their free weekends. They became the first Grand Strand tourists. The railroad terminus was nicknamed New Town, contrasting it with the Old Town or Conway. Around the start of the 20th century, Franklin Burroughs envisioned turning New Town into a tourist destination rivaling the Florida and northeastern beaches. Burroughs died in 1897, but his sons completed the railroad's expansion to the beach and opened the Seaside Inn in 1901. Around 1900, a contest was held to name the area, and Burroughs's wife suggested honoring the locally abundant shrub, the southern wax myrtle. The Withers post office changed its name to Myrtle Beach soon afterward. It incorporated as a town in 1938 and as a city in 1957.
In 1937, Myrtle Beach Municipal Airport was built. It was taken over by the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940 and converted into a military base. Commercial flights began in 1976 and shared the runway for over 15 years until the air base closed in 1993. Since then the airport has been named Myrtle Beach International Airport. In 2010 plans to build a new terminal were approved. In 1940, Kings Highway was finally paved, giving Myrtle Beach its first primary highway. The Market Common is now located on the site of the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. The general aviation terminal opened in May 2010, located on the opposite side of the airport on Airdrome Street near The Market Common. This terminal replaced a building previously used as base operations for the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. The area directly northwest of Myrtle Beach, across the Intracoastal Waterway, remained primarily rural for a while due to the separation from the continental United States since 1936. The northeastern and southwestern ends were bordered by other developed tourist towns, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach.
Hosting over 20 million visitors annually, the Grand Strand is home to an array of tourist attractions. It is estimated that nearly 100,000 visitors a year are international travelers, including tourists from Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. Myrtle Beach has approximately 425 hotels, with many on the beachfront, and approximately 157 accommodation units in total. The area is also home to over 80 golf courses and over 30 miniature golf courses. Myrtle Beach has been called the Golf Capital of the World because of the roughly 100 golf courses there. The record 4.2 million rounds played highlights its status. 3.2 million total rounds of golf were played in 2017, down a few hundred rounds from a decade earlier. Tiger Woods declared Myrtle Beach the mecca of golf when visiting in 1997. The majority of the area's golf courses are public. Extensive Chinese investment to the Myrtle Beach area golf market resulted in a significant surge of Chinese tourists to the area. This investment also resulted in 25 plus golf courses being owned and operated by Chinese nationals. The Myrtle Beach Boardwalk opened in 2010 and has been recognized as the nation's number three boardwalk by National Geographic. The Myrtle Beach Skywheel opened at the boardwalk in May 2011, and is an observation wheel similar to a ferris wheel. It features glass gondolas that look over the Atlantic Ocean. This is the first wheel of its kind in the U.S.
As of the 2020 census, there were 35,682 people residing in the city. The racial makeup was 66.97% White non-Hispanic and 13.01% Black or African American non-Hispanic. Hispanic or Latino residents made up 11.94% of the population. At the 2010 census, the population of Myrtle Beach was 27,109. At the 2000 census, there were 22,759 permanent residents in Myrtle Beach. Black Bike Week, founded in 1980, takes place the weekend around Memorial Day Weekend. It is the largest African American motorcycle rally in the US and attracts as many as 400,000 visitors. The event was created in response to a history of discrimination against African-American visitors and riders to Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand Area. The Myrtle Beach government created 15 new laws aimed at preventing all sanctioned motorcycle events within the city in response to controversy including accusations of racism by African-American riders during their event. Several lawsuits by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People against Myrtle Beach businesses were settled with agreements that discrimination cease. Compensation was given to some plaintiffs, and employees were given diversity training. The NAACP suit against the City of Myrtle Beach was settled in 2006 without the city paying damages. Police would use the same traffic control rules during both the black and the white motorcycle rallies.
The city of Myrtle Beach has a council-manager government. The Mayor sits as a Council member-at-large and presides over City council meetings. If the Mayor cannot preside over a City Council meeting, the Mayor Pro-Tem is the presiding officer until such time as the Mayor returns to the seat. The City Manager is responsible for the administration and the day-to-day operation of all municipal services and city departments. The city reformed into a council-manager government system in 1974 under the administration of Mayor Bob Hirsch and city manager David Stradinger. They moved away from the city's former strong-mayor form of government. Grand Strand Medical Center opened on the 21st of April 1978 to succeed the former Ocean View Memorial Hospital. It is a 369-bed acute care hospital and Level 1 Adult Trauma Center known for its programs in cardiology, heart surgery, and stroke treatment. Within the last decade, new roads have been created to ease congestion caused by the yearly influx of visitors. Most of these roads follow the Metro Loop Road Plan, organized in 1997 to improve the traffic flow of Myrtle Beach. Plans exist for Myrtle Beach to be served by two interstates, I-73 and I-74. The county is debating where to allocate the $400 million generated through a proposed 1-cent sales tax.
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Common questions
When did the Waccamaw people use the Long Bay river for travel and fishing?
The Waccamaw people used the Long Bay river for travel and fished along the shore near Little River before European settlers arrived in the late 18th century. Waties Island holds evidence of burial mounds and shell remains left by this visiting tribe.
Who received land grants along the coast including Myrtle Beach before the American Revolution?
Several families received land grants along the coast, including the Withers family who got an area around present-day Wither's Swash. James Minor also received a grant covering a barrier island named Minor Island which is now known as Waties Island off the coast near Little River.
What year was the Conway & Seashore Railroad charter granted to Burroughs and Collins Company?
On the 28th of February 1899, Burroughs and Collins received a charter to build the Conway & Seashore Railroad to transport timber from the coast to inland customers. The railroad began daily service on the 1st of May 1900 with two wood-burning locomotives.
When did Myrtle Beach incorporate as a town and later as a city?
Myrtle Beach incorporated as a town in 1938 and as a city in 1957. The post office changed its name to Myrtle Beach soon after a contest held around 1900 where Franklin Burroughs's wife suggested honoring the southern wax myrtle shrub.
How many people lived in Myrtle Beach according to the 2020 census?
As of the 2020 census there were 35,682 people residing in the city. The racial makeup included 66.97% White non-Hispanic and 13.01% Black or African American non-Hispanic residents.