Grand Strand

Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand have become the world's playground. What began over a century ago as local beach retreats between Little River and Georgetown have changed so dramatically that their history is endangered. Wide beaches, warm surf, and abundant wildlife ignited a resort phenomenon that now offers world-class hotels, dining, shopping, entertainment, and recreation. This volume retraces the area's progression from Myrtle Beach's humble beginning in 1901 through the middle years of the 20th century to beyond 1954, when Hurricane Hazel crushed the Grand Strand and determined owners rebuilt their resorts with strength and grandeur. Included among these 240 vintage images are scenes of early dance pavilions, favorite tourist venues, and quaint cottage hotels in old Myrtle Beach. There are yesteryear views of Murrells Inlet and the beaches of Surfside, Garden City, and Pawley's Island, and vintage photographs of Ocean Drive and surrounding beaches in North Myrtle Beach. Susan Hoffer McMillan, author of two vintage postcard histories on coastal South Carolina, delves deeply into the history of Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand to share her fascination with its past through this unprecedented photograph collection. Whether you recall memories of places in this book or just seek to understand the evolution of Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand, you will enjoy forgotten images that illuminate and preserve the past for future generations.

Insiders' Guide to St. Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand is the essential source for in-depth travel and relocation information to this popular South Carolina vacation destination. Written by a local (and true insider), it offers a personal and practical perspective of Myrtle Beach and environs. Fully revised and updated, the 10th edition also features a new interior layout and a new cover treatment.

Myrtle Beach – A city of wide contrasts whose more rational and sedate side must surely exist, but largely out of view. To the visitor, the Beach seems to scream and shout “play here!” Her public areas are truly its heart – bizarre, electric and visceral. As I wandered about with my camera on a summer Saturday, the images jumped out at me, and slammed me in the head - the only problem being that of self-editing. Herein is that afternoon. I remain astonished by her color and movement, and cannot wait to return. SL

Regional media conglomerate Kaitlyn Tufts and her managing editor, Jack O'Banyon, have set out to discover the real story behind Rocktime Amusement Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Originally built for $400 million, the park went bankrupt only four months after it opened. And then it was purchased four months later for $25 million and renamed Good Times Park. Kaitlyn believes something strange is going on. New park owner Melvin Rollin has been an amusement park junkie all his life. He was employed at the amusement park under its original ownership...when Rocktime Night Club impresario "Real Bobby Steele" was in charge. So when the bank comes looking for a new owner, Melvin knows he's the right fit. But Melvin Rollin has no idea of the park's sketchy history. Soon, Kaitlyn and Jack will discover the story behind the once bankrupt amusement park; but will Jack be able to protect Kaitlyn from the danger she has stirred up?

Join author Dr. Rick Simmons as he recalls the hidden history and legends of The Grand Strand in South Carolina. Though today South Carolina's Grand Strand is known primarily for tourism, Hidden History of the Grand Strand examines the area's often-overlooked stories spanning more than five hundred years, from the lost Spanish flagship Capitana in 1526 to the German U-boats that reportedly roamed the Intracoastal Waterway with the help of local collaborators during World War II. Along the way, learn about the hidden history of the now-vanished villages of La Grange and Lafayette, the great canal on North Island and the wrecks of the Freeda A. Wyley, the USS Harvest Moon and the City of Richmond, as well as the real stories behind the legends of Old Gunn Church, the illegal casino at the Ocean Forest Hotel, the U-boat pens on the Waccamaw River and Drunken Jack Island. This work presents a unique look at the area, its history and the legends that enthrall visitors to this day.

The once-quiet towns of the Grand Strand are being replaced by mega-structures for accommodation, dining, and entertainment. Images in this volume span the 20th century, chronicling the evolution of a resort once touted as "the world's greatest playground." Featured are the former Myrtle Beach Pavilion, beach hotel expansions, and freshwater estuaries overshadowed by development.

The Grand Strand has a long tradition of hardworking independence and the enthusiastic pursuit of leisure activities. Myrtle Beach is known as a hotbed of hearty partiers, and its chronicles include bordellos, bootleggers, rumrunners, gamblers and a variety of indulgent practices. From Civil War deserters to the excesses of the disco era, the area has a wicked streak running parallel to its beaches. Join author and historian Becky Billingsley as she uncovers the naughty side of the Grand Strand.

The culinary history of Myrtle Beach reflects a unique merging of Native American, European, African and Caribbean cuisines. Learn the techniques used by enslaved Africans created vast wealth for rice plantation owners; what George Washington likely ate when visiting South Carolina in 1791; how the turpentine industry gave rise to a sticky sweet potato cooking method; and why locals eagerly anticipate one special time of year when boiled peanuts are at their best. Author Becky Billingsley, a longtime Myrtle Beach-area restaurant journalist, digs deep into historic records and serves up both tantalizing personal interviews and dishes on the best local restaurants, where many delicious farm-to-table heritage foods can still be enjoyed.

Stories of the Grand Strand like the failed Spanish settlement of 1526, Blackbeard's lost treasure, and the ghost of Murrells Inlet.

A travel guide that covers both Myrtle Beach and its neighbors over the North Carolina border, including the seaports of Wilmington and Southport, which contains information on lodging, dining, transportation, history, shopping, recreation, and more; a section packed with practical information, such as lists of banks, hospitals, post offices, laundromats, numbers for police, fire, and rescue, and other relevant information; maps of regions and locales, and more.