Myrtle Beach is a coastal
resort city in Horry
County
, South
Carolina
, United States
. It is the de facto
hub of both the Myrtle
Beach metropolitan area and the Grand
Strand, a complex of beach towns and barrier islands stretching
from Little
River
to Georgetown, South Carolina
.
Arising
from a getaway for lumber workers from Conway
, Myrtle Beach has rapidly developed into a major
tourist destination in the Southeastern United States in the
latter 20th century and 2000s. As of 2006, the metro area had
an estimated population of 299,353.
According to the 2000
census, the area was the 13th fastest-growing metropolitan area in
the United
States.
History
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the general area along
Long Bay was inhabited by the
Waccamaw Indians.
The Waccamaw used the river for travel and
fished along the shore around Little
River. Waties Island, the primary
barrier island along Long Bay, has evidence of burial and shell
mounds, remains of the visiting Waccamaw.
The first settler along Long Bay arrived in the late 18th Century,
attempting to extend the
plantation
system outward towards the ocean . Records are sparse from this
period, with most of the recorded history pieced together from old
land grants. They were met with mixed
results, producing unremarkable quantities of
indigo and
tobacco. The
coast's soil was sandy and most of the crop yields were of an
inferior quality.
Prior to the
American
Revolution, the area along the future
Grand Strand was essentially uninhabited.
Several families received land grants along the coast, including
most notably the Withers: John, Richard, William and Mary. They
received an area around present-day Myrtle Swash, at the time known
as Wither's Swash or the 8-Mile Swash. Another grant was given to
James Minor, a barrier island named Minor Island, now
Waties Island, off of the
coast near Little River.
Mary
Wither's gravestone at Prince George
Winyah Episcopal 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 America reached independence, Horry County remained essentially
unchanged, and the coast remained barren.
George Washington scouted out the Southern
states during his term, traveling down the
King's Highway.
He stayed
the night at Windy
Hill
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, and the area, left unattended, began to
return to forest.
Following the
Civil War, most of
the abandoned land along the ocean was purchased by the Conway
Lumber Company, now New South Lumber. The company built the Conway
& Seashore Railroad to move chopped timber from the coast
inland. A "Withers"
post
office was established at the site of the old Swash.
After the railroad was finished, employees of the lumber and
railroad company would take train
flatcars
down to the beach on their weekends off, in essence becoming the
first Grand Strand tourists .
The area where the railroad ended was
nicknamed "New Town", contrasting it with the "Old Town", or
Conway.
At the
turn of the 20th Century, Joe Mercier envisioned turning New Town
into a tourist destination, a coastal town rivaling the northern
beaches like Coney
Island
. Burroughs died in 1897, but his sons
completed the railroad's expansion to the beach and opened the
Seaside Inn in 1901, to house new visitors .
Founded in 1938, it continued to grow for the next couple of
decades, and in 1957, it finally incorporated. a contest was held
to name the town and Burroughs' wife suggested honoring the locally
abundant shrub, the
wax myrtle. So the
town was named Myrtle Beach.
In 1937, Myrtle Beach Municipal Airport was built, however it was
promptly taken over by the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940 and
converted into a military base . Also in 1940, Kings Highway was
finally paved, giving Myrtle Beach its first primary highway.
Geography
It is situated mainly between the
Atlantic Intracoastal
Waterway on the west and the Atlantic Ocean (Long Bay) on the
East, although building west of the
waterway is rapidly increasing. Much of the area
between the
coast and the waterway is a
slightly elevated sandbar or dune area. West of the waterway the
land is mostly pine forest with a normal high water table, in which
developers dredge ponds and use the soil to create elevated areas
for better drainage around buildings. According to the
United States Census Bureau, the
city has a total area of 16.8 square miles (43.5 km²), of
which, 16.76 square miles (43.5 km²) of it is land and
0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.12%) is water.
Climate
According to
Köppen
classification, Myrtle Beach has a humid subtropical climate.
The city experiences mild winters and a humid summer.
Neighborhoods and suburbs
Myrtle Beach also has various neighborhoods in the city,
notably:
Myrtle
Beach is also surrounded by various other towns and beaches,
notably Surfside Beach
to the south, North Myrtle
Beach
to the north; and Conway further inland.
Demographics
[[Image:Myrtle Beach-Conway-Georgetown
CSA.png|thumb|right|300px|Location of the Myrtle
Beach-Conway-Georgetown CSA and its components:]]
Myrtle
Beach is the largest principal city of the Myrtle
Beach-Conway-Georgetown CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that
includes the Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach
metropolitan area (Horry County) and the Georgetown
micropolitan area
(Georgetown County), which had a combined population of 273,405 at the
2000 census.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 22,759
people, 10,413 households, and 5,414 families residing in the city.
The
population density was
1,356.3 people per square mile (523.7/km²). There were 14,658
housing units at an average density of 873.5/sq mi
(337.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.16%
White, 12.76%
African-American,
0.42%
Native American,
1.28%
Asian, 0.13%
Pacific Islander, 2.37% from
other races, and 1.88%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 4.67% of the
population.
There were 10,413 households out of which 20.3% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 36.8% were
married couples living together, 11.1% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 48.0% were non-families.
34.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the city the population was spread out with 18.0% under the age
of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 33.6% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to
64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
37 years. For every 100 females there were 103.0 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,498, and the
median income for a family was $43,900. Males had a median income
of $26,039 versus $22,473 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$23,214. About 7.6% of families and 12.0% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 17.1%
of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.
Economy
Myrtle Beach's economy is mostly tourism-based , with tourism
bringing in billions of dollars each season . Hotels/resorts,
restaurants and golf courses are found across the Grand Strand,
with a large number concentrating in the downtown area of the city.
The
city's theme parks such as Myrtle Waves
, Freestyle Music Park and the festival-style
Broadway at
the Beach
also are significant additions to the
economy. The many conferences and conventions held in the
area add to the city as well. Farms that produce tobacco, indigo,
watermelons, berries, and other crops also give good amounts of
money into the city. Lumber companies and railroads give modest
amounts of money to the city. Factories that produce plastic,
rubber, cardboard, styrofoam, and ceramics also exist in the city.
The golfing industry is perhaps one of Myrtle Beach's biggest money
makers however, as it has been referred to as the Golf Capital of
the USA, as Myrtle Beach caters to over 250 golf courses.
Culture
Tourism
The beach.
over 14.6 million visitors annually, The Grand Strand is home to an
array of tourist attractions, and the area receives a large influx
of visitors during the spring, summer and fall months, and
"snowbirds" in the winter. Over ten million tourists visit Myrtle
Beach and the surrounding areas every year. The area's attractions
include its beaches and many golf courses, as well as a number of
amusement parks, an aquarium, over 1,900 restaurants including
seafood restaurants, and a number of shopping complexes. Myrtle
Beach has an estimated 460
hotels, with many
on the beachfront, and approximately 89,000 accommodation units in
total. The area also has an IMAX theater, dinner theater,
nightclubs, and many tourist shops.
Other attractions include the Myrtle Beach
State Park
and fishing. The area is also popular for
business meetings and conventions.
The area recently welcomed Hard Rock Park
in 2008, a park themed after the popular Hard Rock Cafe chain (now called Freestyle
Music Park
). The park features attractions themed after
different genres of music, such as the
British Invasion.
Also in the city is
Myrtle
Waves, one of the largest water parks on the eastern
seaboard. Broadway at the Beach is a popular shopping and entertainment
destination.
The Carolina Opry is another
highly-acclaimed attraction, which features various musical,
comedy, dance, and entertainment shows, including The Carolina Opry
(variety show), Good Vibrations (best of the 60s, 70s, and 80s),
LIGHT -- a Laser Extravaganza. During the holiday season, the venue
hosts The Carolina Opry Christmas Special. It is currently housed
in a 2,200 seat theater.
Visitors should note that the city council has passed a number of
ordinances affecting the city limits of Myrtle Beach, that may not
be the same as the rest of the state.
It is
notable that although gambling is not legal in the state of
South
Carolina, the city
has access to several gambling boats, which "legally transports
passengers into international waters beyond the reach of federal
and state gambling laws."
Amusement parks and tourist attractions
Myrtle
Beach is home to many tourist attractions, notably Family Kingdom
Amusement Park, a sea-side amusement park, Freestyle
Music Park (formerly Hard Rock
Park), and the diverse Broadway at the Beach, which features many shopping, tourism, and dining
attractions. Myrtle Waves is one of the largest water parks on the eastern
seaboard. Myrtle Beach also has over 40 varied miniature
golf courses along the strand.
From
1948 until
2006, a
popular staple of Myrtle Beach tourism was the
Myrtle Beach Pavilion. This historic
landmark and the large amusement park across the street were
demolished after the 2006 season; this area has been a large empty,
unused lot for 3 seasons.
Conventions and special events
Myrtle Beach hosts a variety of special conventions, events, and
musical concerts. Each March since 1951 during Ontario's
spring break, Myrtle Beach has hosted
Canadian-American Days, also known as Can-Am Days. Tens of
thousands tourists flock to the area for a week's worth of special
events.
The area is home to the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, a large
facility that hosts an array of different meetings, conferences,
exhibits, and special events every year. The expansive center,
which opened in 2003, also features a
Sheraton hotel and resort.
Myrtle Beach Bike Week, a week-long
motorcycle rally, brings tens of thousands
of visitors to the city every May. The event is not sanctioned by
the city, which has passed restrictive ordinances targeting the
rallies. All events take place outside the city in Horry County,
Murrells Inlet or North Myrtle Beach.
Every year in late July, Myrtle Beach hosts "Mustang Week". Mustang
Week is the southeast's largest gathering of Mustangs and SVT's for
a week of fun and events. Events include a Meet-and-Greet, a day of
runs at Myrtle Beach Speedway, Drag Night at Darlington's drag
strip, a car show at the Colonial Mall, and the week ends with a
7-hour cruise in at the same mall. The events bring in over 500
Mustang owners, and the car show attracts over 6,000
spectators.
Another pride of Myrtle Beach is the arrival of the Advanced "A"
affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. By far
the most affordable and family friendly act in Myrtle Beach. Since
1999, over 70 major league players have played in this city.
Sports
Myrtle
Beach is home to two minor league sports teams, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, a Carolina League baseball team and Atlanta Braves farm franchise, and the
Myrtle Beach Thunderboltz,
an ECHL hockey team that will eventually play
regularly at Coastal Carolina University
in nearby Conway.
The area
also has the BB&T Coastal Field
, the home field of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. The
stadium, located just off Highway 17 in Myrtle Beach, opened in
1999. It seats 6,500 people. It is the finish point of the annual
Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon, an athletics event held in February of
each year.
BB&T Coastal Field is also home of the annual "Baseball At The
Beach" collegiate baseball tournament. Hosted by Coastal Carolina
University each year, the tournament pits participating NCAA
Division I baseball programs in the United States.
The area hosts the annual
Bi-Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon, a
track and field event in February
featuring a Friday night 5K and a Saturday half-marathon, marathon,
and relay. Marathon day draws the limit of 6,000 runners annually
(2,500 full, 3,500 half) and results usually in an unusual dawn as
the race starts before dawn (6:30 AM) in order to finish by 2:30
PM.
Stock car racing is held at Myrtle Beach
Speedway
, a .538 mile semi-banked asphaltic oval track
located on US 501.
Golfing
The area is home to many golf courses and mini golf courses which
are located along the beach and further inland. Myrtle Beach has
been called the "Golf Capital of the World" because of the 120 golf
courses located there, the record 4.2 million rounds played, and
many miniature golf courses. 3.7 million total rounds of golf were
played in 2007. The majority of the area's golf courses are open to
the public. Some of the notable golf courses and/or resorts are as
follows:
- Arcadian Shores Golf Club
- Arrowhead Country Club
- Barefoot Resort and Golf Club
- Burning Ridge Golf Course
- Grand Dunes Golf Resort
- Myrtle Beach National Golf Course
- River Oaks Golf Plantation
Parks and recreation
Myrtle
Beach is home to Myrtle Beach State Park, an open beach, fishing pier full of anglers and
stories. The park also features campgrounds in the
oceanfront woods. The park is located on the coast just south of
the Myrtle Beach city limits.
Media
Television
The Grand
Strand and Florence, South Carolina
share a common defined market by Nielsen Media
Research in Horry, Marion
, Dillon, Darlington, Marlboro, Scotland, Robeson,
and Florence
counties. The Myrtle Beach / Florence Market
is the 103rd largest market in the USA as defined by Nielsen Media
Research. Television stations serving the area are as follows in
the blue box:
Radio
Myrtle
Beach, along with The Grand Strand, makes up the 158th largest
radio market in the United
States. Radio stations serving the area are as
follows in the blue box:
Newspapers
The Sun News is the largest daily paper
published along the Grand Strand, with a readership base extending
from Georgetown,
South Carolina to Sunset Beach, North Carolina
. The paper has been in existence since the
1930s and was formerly published by
Knight
Ridder before that company was bought by
The McClatchy Company.
The area is also served by several weekly papers, including The
Weekly Surge, the Myrtle Beach Herald, and the Horry
Independent.
Education
The
Myrtle Beach metro area is home to two major institutes of higher
learning, Coastal Carolina University and Horry-Georgetown Technical College in nearby
Conway. The area is home to a branch of Webster
University
, an MBA graduate school, and NAIA, a flight
school. Cathedral Bible College is located in Myrtle
Beach.
The entire area of Horry County is served by a single public school
system,
Horry County Schools,
including the
Blue Ribbon
Schools The Academy of Arts, Science, and Technology and
St. James Middle School. The
Myrtle Beach area is dotted with private schools of various sizes
and motifs, notably St. Andrew's Catholic School, Christian Academy
of Myrtle Beach, Carolina Bays Academy, and Chabad Academy.
Healthcare
The Myrtle Beach area is served by the Grand Strand Regional
Medical Center, a 219-bed acute care hospital serving residents and
visitors of Horry and surrounding counties. The hospital offers the
only cardiac surgery program in the area and is also a designated
trauma center. The facility has more than 250 physicians.
Infrastructure
Airports
- The
Myrtle Beach International
Airport
serves the Myrtle Beach area, located on
the south side of town. The airport opened in 1976, and has
served the Myrtle Beach area continuously. Hooters Air began operating out of Myrtle Beach
in early 2003, only to be closed in early 2006 due to rising
airline prices and the airline industry as a whole. DayJet serves 12 South Eastern cities with nonstop
flights, and major airlines provide national and international
service. There are also vestiges of the old Myrtle Beach
Air Force Base
.There is also an Omniflight helicopter base in
Myrtle Beach that flies in surrounding areas throughout the Grand
Strand.
- The Grand Strand Airport, located in the North
Myrtle Beach area, is a single-terminal airport ( CRE),
serving primarily banner planes and small aircraft.
Major highways
Rail
Myrtle Beach is served by a single rail line which essentially runs
parallel to
U.S.
Route 501 from
Conway ending in downtown Myrtle Beach. The tracks are owned by
Horry County, but were leased in 2000 to the Carolina Southern
Railroad (CSRR) which operates on the line as the Waccamaw
Coastline Railroad. Carolina Southern Railroad is a shortline rail
operator running on less than 100 miles of rail at a maximum speed
of 10 mph. It transports mostly freight brought to it from national
rail operators such as CSX. The company makes one scheduled
delivery per month into the City of Myrtle Beach.
Recent developments and future plans
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. Some of the roads
included have either been funded through RIDE I funding or through
the City of Myrtle Beach.
RIDE II plans include the third phase of the
Carolina Bays Parkway, a graded
separation of
Farrow Parkway and US
17 Bypass at the back gate of the former Air Force base, and many
other projects. The county is currently debating where to allocate
the $400 million generated through a proposed 1-cent sales tax .
Other
road projects in Horry County, including some in Aynor
and Conway, will be included when voted upon.
Myrtle Beach will eventually be served by two interstates,
Interstate 73 and
Interstate 74.
The North Myrtle Beach Connector
will connect I-74 to downtown North Myrtle
Beach.
Sister cities
Notable residents and natives
See also
References
- http://www.cityofmyrtlebeach.com/
- http://ww2.coastal.edu/ben/other/IndianMounds.pdf
- Paul H. Voss: "Horry County, Mind the H!", page 61, paragraph
7, 1995
- Dr. A. Geff Bedford: "The Independent Republic, a Survey
History of Horry County, South Carolina", page 36, paragraph 6, 2nd
edition, 1989
- Catherine H. Lewis: "Horry County, Mind the H!", page 61,
paragraph 8, 1995
- Dr. A. Geff Bedford: "The Independent Republic, a Survey
History of Horry County, South Carolina", page 51, paragraph 2, 2nd
edition, 1989
- Dr. A. Geff Bedford: "The Independent Republic, a Survey
History of Horry County, South Carolina", page 58, paragraphs 1-3,
2nd edition, 1989.
- Dr. A. Geff Ballard: "The Independent Republic, a Survey
History of Horry County, South Carolina", page 128, paragraphs 3,
2nd edition, 1989.
- Company History | Burroughs & Chapin Company,
Inc
- sky-way 2007.
- [1]
- METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS AND COMPONENTS,
Office of Management and
Budget, 2007-05-11. Accessed 2008-08-01.
- MICROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS AND COMPONENTS,
Office of Management and
Budget, 2007-05-11. Accessed 2008-08-01.
- COMBINED STATISTICAL AREAS AND COMPONENT CORE BASED
STATISTICAL AREAS, Office of Management and
Budget, 2007-05-11. Accessed 2008-08-01.
-
http://www.myrtlebeachareachamber.com/research/data_and_statistics.html
- http://www.visitmyrtlebeach.com/Media/Fast_Facts.html
- The Carolina Opry, Good Vibrations, and The Carolina Opry
Christmas Special
- Canadian-American Days
- Golf Capital Of The World
- Cathedral Bible College
- St. Andrew's Catholic School
- Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach
- Carolina Bays Academy
- Chabad
Academy
- http://www.grandstrandmed.com/
- Carolina Southern
- http://carolinasouthernrailroad.com/sun_news_trains.pdf
External links
U.S. Route 17, allows traffic to
bypass King's
Highway to the west from the northern city limits to 
U.S. Route 501 . The road runs from
Murrells
Inlet, South Carolina
to North Myrtle
Beach.svg/30px-I-95_(SC).svg)
Interstate 95.
S.C.
Highway 31/Carolina Bays Parkway is a six-lane
Interstate Highway
standards freeway that parallels (in
most case) the Intracoastal Waterway from Myrtle Beach, South
Carolina. It runs from 
South Carolina 544 to 
South Carolina 9.
Conway
Bypass is a four lane freeway that connects 
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Kerry
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