Everything about Myrtle Beach South Carolina totally explained
Myrtle Beach is a city in
Horry County,
South Carolina,
United States. Nick Spataro's hometown. It is part of the
Grand Strand, a stretch of beaches along the South Carolina coastline, and the combined
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach MSA.
Founded early in the 20th century, Myrtle Beach is primarily a
resort town. It is the primary hub of the
Grand Strand, a stretch of beaches along South Carolina's coast, and sees upward of ten million visitors each annual season . Visitors are drawn primarily by the coastline, but also by a number of
amusement parks,
restaurants,
festivals, and
tourist traps.
In the last decade, the population of Myrtle Beach has grown rapidly. The population was 22,759 at the
2000 census, while the Census Bureau estimated its population at 28,597 in 2006. Myrtle Beach is a core city of the Myrtle Beach-Conway-Georgetown
CSA, which had an estimated 2006 population of 299,353.
Geography
Myrtle Beach is a city located at (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's land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.12%) is water.
History
Withers
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 settlers along Long Bay arrived in the late
17th 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 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.
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, travelling 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.
New Town
Following the
Civil War, most of the abandoned land along the ocean was purchased by the
Conway Lumber Company. 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.
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..
Demographics
General
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%
Caucasian, 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
Tourism
General
The general Grand Strand area receives a large influx of visitors during the spring, summer and fall months, with over ten million tourists visiting Myrtle Beach and the surrounding areas.
Golf
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has been called the "Golf Capital of the World" because of the 120 golf courses located there, the record of 4.2 million rounds played, and to top it off they've as many as 50 miniature golf courses. The majority of the area's golf courses are open to the public.
Economy
Myrtle Beach's economy is mostly tourism-based, with tourism bringing in millions of dollars each season . Restaurants and golf courses are found across the Grand Strand, with a large number concentrating in the downtown area of the city. Farms that produce tobacco, indigo, watmels, 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, and styrafoam also exist in the city.
Education
The Myrtle Beach metro area is home to two major institutes of higher learning,
Coastal Carolina University and Horry-Georgetown Technical College in
Conway. The area is also home to a branch of
Webster University, an MBA graduate school, and NAIA, a flight school.
The entire area of Horry County is served by a single public school system,
Horry County Schools, and the Myrtle Beach area is dotted with private schools of various sizes and motifs.
Transportation
Roads
The first major route into the Myrtle Beach area,
U.S. Route 17, ran from the
North Carolina border to the Myrtle Beach area and turned west and north into
Conway. The road was named in
1933, and US 17 was extended into South Carolina a year later. The road from Myrtle Beach to Conway was later renamed
US 501 in a complicated route that roughly followed the current Broadway Street, Highway 15, Seaboard Street, Robert Grissom Parkway, Highway 544, and Business US 501.
The current route of US 501 was created in a more direct path from
Aynor, South Carolina into Myrtle Beach. The new four-lane road was built in the 1960s to cover the growing traffic coming into the city, with little development occurring along the new road. The bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway was built in 1962, and the surrounding area has just recently been developed as developments have moved across the
Intracoastal Waterway.
By the late 1970s, a bypass roughly paralleling a dirt road was created for bypass traffic for US 17. This original route, named
South Carolina Highway 317, was opened in 1975 and allowed traffic to bypass
King's Highway from the northern city limits to US 501. By the 1980s, the road was completed to
Murrells Inlet and renamed as US 17.
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 better 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.
Interstates
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.
Air
The Myrtle Beach area is also served by the
Myrtle Beach International Airport, located 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. There is also the old
Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, which is considered the best air force base by many.
Rail
Myrtle Beach is served by a single rail line which essentially runs parallel to
Hwy 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 like CSX. The company makes just one scheduled delivery per month into the City of Myrtle Beach.
Sports
Myrtle Beach is home to three non-major sports team,the Myrtle Turtles, 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 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.
The area is home to many golf courses which dot the Strand.
Stock car racing is held at
Myrtle Beach Speedway.
Media
Myrtle Beach Broadcast TV Stations
- WFXB FOX http://wfxb.com/
- WBTW CBS http://www.scnow.com/midatlantic/scp/wbtw.html
- WPDE ABC http://wpde.com/
- WMBF NBC (expected to come on air mid 2008)
- WWMB CW
- WHMC PBS
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 103 largest market in the USA as defined by Nielsen Media Research.
Newspapers
The Sun News is arguably 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 being bought out by
The McClatchy Company
The area is also served by several weekly papers, including The Weekly Surge
(External Link
), the
Myrtle Beach Herald, and the
Horry Independent.
Sister Cities
Myrtle Beach has four
sister cities, as designated by
Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):
Pinamar, Buenos Aires Province
Keighley, West Yorkshire
Burlington, Ontario
Killarney, County KerryFurther Information
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