The areas first inhabitants were the Waccamaw and Winyah Indians who named the region Chicora meaning beautiful land.
A Spaniard, Lucas Vasques de Allyon, founded the first colony in North America in the Grand Strand in 1526. The settlement was ravaged by disease and the inhabitants perished within a year.
Until the 1900's the beaches of Horry County were virtually uninhabited due to geographical inaccessibility and poor economy.
About the turn of the century, a timber and turpentine company called Burroughs & Collins who had extensive beachfront holdings, began developing the resort potential of the Strand.
The company built the beach's first hotel called The Seaside Inn in 1901. At that time oceanfront lots sold for $25 and buyers received an extra lot free if they built a house valued at $500 or more!
The beach community was called New Town until the Horry Herald newspaper held a contest to officially name the area . Myrtle Beach was put forward by Mrs F E Burroughs, the company founders wife, inspired by the wax myrtle trees growing along the shore.
An upscale resort called Arcady was begun at the north end of the community in 1920. This featured the first golf club Pine Lakes Country Club and the Ocean Forest Hotel. Pine Lakes was the birthplace of Sports Illustrated magazine.
In 1936 the Intracoastal Waterway was opened to pleasure boats and commercial shipping. An Air Force Base was established in the 1940's and used for training and coastal patrols during World War II.
Myrtle Beach was incorporated in 1938 and became a City in 1957.
After the damage caused by Hurricane Hazel in 1954, new and larger hotels and homes could be built and the rebuilding phase of the 60's heralded the start of the golf boom, With over 100 courses the current epithet of "Golf Capital of the World" is well deserved.
Throughout the 1970's new construction topped $75 million and the permanent population tripled. Steady development in the 1980's and another boom in the early 1990's has resulted in vast selections of attractions, homes, retail shops and other amenities that now attract millions of visitors every year.
