Myrtle Beach
A History, 1900–1980
Barbara F. Stokes
A relatively young city, Myrtle Beach has quickly earned an international reputation as a tourism mecca on the South Carolina coast. Public historian Barbara F. Stokes provides the first
comprehensive history of the community’s quick rise to prominence as she maps the development of the Grand Strand’s centerpiece in this account of the historical, economic, climatic,
and cultural forces that shaped Myrtle Beach.
Beginning with a brief discussion that traces occupation of the region from its earliest
inhabitants to the dawn of the twentieth century, Stokes focuses the core of her work on the
period of rapid development from 1900 to 1980. The arrival of the railroad in 1902 began
the transformation of Myrtle Beach from an isolated agricultural community into a summer beach resort. While the Great Depression brought economic distress to much of the
nation, it presented wealthy industrialist John T. Woodside with the opportunity to expand
Myrtle Beach’s borders with the purchase of some sixty-five thousand acres. His construction
of a golf course and the magnificent Ocean Forest Hotel inaugurated Myrtle Beach’s resort
culture. Likewise Horry County officials made full use of New Deal programs to develop
infrastructure and service institutions supporting the region.
But, as Stokes explains, it was the war effort that had the greatest impact on the development of Myrtle Beach. The region’s population and economy both swelled with the creation
there of what was called the Myrtle Beach Army Air Force Base during World War II. The
base brought new jobs, new faces, and a growing national and international awareness.
In separate chapters Stokes explores the importance of religious and educational institutions in developing the family-oriented identity of the city, the evolution of family-owned
guesthouses—often owned and managed by women—into the high-rise hotels and sprawling
resorts that now pepper the shoreline, the transformation of leisure activities from hunting
and fishing to golf, racing, and watersports, and the efforts of city government to facilitate
and encourage growth since incorporation in 1938. Stokes also looks at the history of African
Americans in Myrtle Beach and in particular at the importance of Atlantic Beach. She examines the Pavilion’s role as the site where tourism and community met. And she recounts the
tragedy and opportunity Hurricane Hazel brought in October 1954.
Barbara F. Stokes earned her B.A. in
journalism from the University of Houston and her M.A. in public history from
the University of South Carolina. Stokes
is the curator of archives and collections
for the Museum of South Texas History in
Edinburg, Texas.
September 2007, 256 pages, 42 illus.
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