Myrtle Beach.(South Carolina)

The Grand Strand, a 60-mile stretch of beach reaching from the North Carolina State line to Georgetown, has its fair share of history. Most of that, though, centers on Georgetown County, to the south, and is described in detail in the Georgetown chapter. We will focus here, then, on the history of the area's beaches themselves.

History

Until the turn of the 20th century, the beaches of Horry County were largely uninhabitable due to their geographical inaccessibility and the poor economy. This began to change, albeit slowly, in 1901 when the Burroughs & Collins Company, a timber firm with extensive beachfront land, built the beach's first hotel, the Seaside Inn. Visitors were encouraged to travel to the inn on a new railroad that had been built originally for use in timber transport. The fledgling community was called "New Town" and, as incredible as it now seems, oceanfront lots sold for just $25! What's more, citizens who constructed a house valued at $500 or more were given an extra lot free. New Town, though, wasn't deemed an inspirational name for an up-and coming resort, so the local newspaper, the Horry Herald, held a contest to rename the town. Coincidentally or not, and who will ever know, the winner was Mrs. F.E. Burroughs-yes, you've guessed it, the wife of the founder of Burroughs & Collins. Having noticed the many wax myrtle trees growing wild on the beach, her winning entry was "Myrtle Beach." And, while on the topic of names, it is said that Claude Dunnagan, a gossip and publicity columnist for the weekly, The Myrtle Beach Sun, originated the name "Grand Strand" in 1949.

In 1925 a major advancement in tourism was made when John T. Woodside, a textile magnate from Greenville, SC, planned an upscale resort, called Arcady, at the north end of the beach. This featured the Grand Strand's first golf course, the legendary Ocean Forest Hotel, and was the birthplace of the famous magazine Sports Illustrated. In 1936, pleasure boats and commercial shipping began using the newly opened Intracoastal Waterway and, just two years later, Myrtle Beach was incorporated. The Air Force Base, used for training and coastal patrols During World War II, was built here in the early 1940s and remained open until 1993. Myrtle Beach, elevated to city status in 1957, reaped the benefits of the 1960s golf boom--a trend that continues to this day, and the Grand Strand, in turn, became a nationally famous resort, with a burgeoning infrastructure to match.

When we first visited Myrtle Beach on our honeymoon in 1975, we found a place with two characters. The downtown area, with funfairs and other similar flashy attractions, and North Myrtle Beach, with up market hotels, plush golf courses and miles of beautiful beaches. We didn't return to the area in the intervening near quarter-century.

When setting out to research this guide in 1997, we realized immediately that Myrtle Beach had grown significantly in size and scope. Even so, we were totally surprised at exactly how much and in what manner it had grown. Our first clue came when, out of curiosity, we tried to locate the hotel we had stayed in those many years ago, at the time a magnificent new Hilton in North Myrtle Beach. We caught on very quickly that Myrtle Beach had grown so much that it had literally swallowed North Myrtle Beach and now stretches nearly to the state line. Upon a subsequent trip in 1999, we finally found our hotel. It is no longer a Hilton, however, having been bought by the Wyndham group in 1998. We set out to reacquaint ourselves with Myrtle Beach, and the changes we found were phenomenal, to say the least.

Today's Myrtle Beach hosts over 13,000,000 visitors annually, has over 490 hotels--with many more under construction, lists approximately 1,500 places to eat, is home to 102 golf courses and 46 more miniature golf courses, and boasts 11 live entertainment theaters that seat a total of 17,700 people. Adding to this array are other places of entertainment, including a wonderful aquarium, an alligator adventure, a NASCAR Speedpark, a number of water parks, and a zoo--to name a few.