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 Ridge
- Withers Preserve
- Jaluco
- Konig
- Ocean Forest
- Pine Island
- Stalvey
- Palmetto Pointe
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
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
Hosting 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 wel
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