Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach is a city located at 33°42’15″N, 78°52’32″W (33.704238, -78.875453). 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, 16.8 square miles (43.5 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.12%) is water.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the general area along Long Bay was inhabited by the Waccamaw Indians, who 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 settlers along Long Bay arrived in the late 17th century, attempting to extend the plantation system outward towards the ocean [6]. 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 crops 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.

In 1900, a hotel, the Seaside Inn, had been built by the company to handle visitors from the railroad. Around the same time, a contest was held to name New Town. F. G. Burroughs, a member of the Burroughs family, suggested honoring the local abundant shrub, the wax myrtle, and the area was named Myrtle Beach.

Myrtle Beach

Myrtle Beach began as little more than a resort town for employees of the Conway Lumber Company, now Burroughs & Chapin. It continued to grow for the next couple of decades, and in 1938, it finally incorporated. In 1940, Myrtle Beach Municipal Airport was built, and Kings Highway was finally paved, giving Myrtle Beach its first primary highway.