The Myrtle Beach Real Estate or Grand Strand area has been called many things over the years. The Indians called it "Chicora" which is translated as meaning "the land". If you think the Indians were really clever with that name then I have to tell you that the original name of Myrtle Beach was "New Town". The Grand Strand region is an area from the north end of present day North Myrtle Beach down to the southern tip of Murrells Inlet. This encompasses an island area that is east of the Intracoastal Waterway. The modern enterpetation includes some land west of the waterway.

Highway 17 was originally an Indian trail and later became the road that connected Washington to Charleston. It wasn't paved until 1941. The Grand Strand is a name that usually translates as Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach was actually the last part of the Grand Strand to be developed. The Little River and Murrells Inlet areas were developing as early as the 1700's. The Grand Strand currently has diverse communities that range from quiet, colonial type settings to the fast pace of commercial 'progress'. Check out our other towns to see what I mean.

In 1900, Burroughs & Collins Timber and Turpentine Company bought land across the water from Conway. The previous land-owner wanted rid of the worthless land on the coastline so he made it a condition of the sale that Burroughs & Collins also have to purchase the coastal land. That year a railroad was completed that started in Conway and went to the beach. Very quickly, the first hotel was built, the Seaside Inn. As more people bought lots, the town (now named 'New Town') grew slowly. In the 1920's, Arcady Resort was being built. This resort featured the oldest golf course on the strand, Pine Lakes Country Club. The resort also included the well known Ocean Forest Hotel which stood until 1971. In 1912, a man by the name of Simon Chapin from Chicago purchased a lot of property in the area and invested in development of New Town. Soon the name 'New Town' just wouldn't due so a contest was had to rename the area. Mrs. Burroughs came up with the winning name of Myrtle Beach as there were so many Myrtle trees. The town continued to grow but met with disaster in 1954 when Hurricane Hazel hit her shores. Instead of dying forever, like the Phoenix, Myrtle Beach was reborn. Throughout the 50's and 60's, growth along the beach increased quickly as well as the number of new golf courses (over 100 in the area today). The town was incoporated in 1938 and registered as a city in 1957.

The Air Force came to Myrtle Beach in the early 40's and built and training base that also served to protect the offshore waters from German U-Boats that would lay in wait of cargo ships during WW II. The base was closed in 1993 and so began the transformation of the base into a residential and commercial area that continues to this day.

Myrtle Beach continues to grow each year. With a current permanent population of about 25,000, Myrtle Beach ballons to over 300,000 on any given day during the summer. New roads, new shopping malls, new hotels, new homes subdivisions, new attractions all point to the current area growth and prove that Myrtle Beach will continue to adapt.

The coastal waters of South Carolina have provided us with much folklore about pirates and ghosts. In Little River and Murrells Inlet the stories are true (well maybe not the ghosts). Little River and Murrells Inlet both started as a harbour for pirates. Pirates could navigate down "Little River" but the British could not follow because of the size of their ships. During the Civil War, blockade runners would use the area for protection for the same reason. At the mouth of Little River Harbour was Fort Randall which was created to protect the harbour from Yankee ships. However, in 1863, a Yankee naval landing party captured the fort. The ensuing counterattack by the Confederates drove the Yankees out. The Little River was eventually absorbed into the Intracoastal Waterway.

As the Litchfield and Pawleys Island had been built up as a resort area for the rich the people moving into the North Myrtle Beach area were trying to build their own little resort area to draw some of the plantation owners up to them. During the 1800's and into the 1900's, five communities grew along the coast. Those communities were Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach, Atlantic Beach and Windy Hill. In 1968, all but Atlantic Beach joined together to form the new town of North Myrtle Beach. Atlantic Beach was formed as a blacks only community during the time when blacks were segregated. When North Myrtle Beach was formed, Atlantic Beach choose to remain separate. Today Atlantic Beach is the home of the Black Biker Festival that is held every year during the last week of May.

From 1968 until now, the North Myrtle Beach area has been growing at a slower pace than Myrtle Beach. North Myrtle Beach remains a family friendly city of a population of about 12,000.

Myrtle Beach Real Estate serving the Grand Strand since 1973

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