~ Myrtle Beach Vacation Packages & Resorts

Myrtle Beach, SC - From Humble Beginnings to a Resort Paradise

Early Myrtle Beach History:

During the early history of the area that would become Myrtle Beach, dense forests and think, soupy swamps covered the area. As a result the region remained largely uninhabited for a long period of time- isolated from the Europeans who were exploring the eastern seaboard of the United States during the 16th and 17th centuries. However, as with many other regions of North America, American Indian tribes did roam throughout the area.

In this particular case it was the Winyah and Waccamaw tribes that laid claim to the region. They called the region- Chicora. What is today the main road through modern Myrtle Beach, known as Kings Highway, is actually laid over an ancient Indian trail. This route would later become central when Europeans settled the Grand Strand and began to move freight along the corridor that ran through Myrtle Beach; leading on to places like Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA.

Eventually the area was settled by Spaniards who established a settlement christened San Miguel de Cualadape. And so despite what had at first seemed a rather impenetrable area, the general locale of modern Myrtle Beach would become one of the earliest European settlements in the New World.

As with many such colonies however, the settlement was later abandoned. It would be much later again (the middle 18th century to be exact) before the Grand Strand was permanently colonized by English explorers in the area. It was the agricultural capacity of the region that led to colonization at that time. From then on, Myrtle Beach, at that time simply called New Towne, grew steadily in population.


From Disaster to Paradise: The Re-Making of Myrtle Beach into a World-Class Resort City

Ironically it wasn't until after a horrendous hurricane named Hazel devastated the area in and around Myrtle Beach in Oct. 15, 1954, that the area began to morph into a world-class resort city. After that time, construction began anew and suddenly golf courses, beach-front condominiums, and hotels began to populate the landscape. From a period beginning in 1973 and lasting through the 1980's the area of Myrtle Beach underwent massive expansion. The climate in Myrtle Beach, boasting an average of 215 sunny days a year and a balmy average temperature of 64 degrees, was extremely contusive to this growth as a resort city.

Before long modern shopping centers, retail outlets, live theatres and a wide variety of restaurants and recreational theme parks sprung up alongside the growing hotel industry. Soon tourism became the major economic player in the area. Rapid population growth continued throughout the 1990's and into the new millennium. Today the Grand Strand, the foremost attraction in Myrtle Beach, sees almost 13 million visitors annually. And every year more attractions and entertainment centers pen up in Myrtle Beach- making the area of Myrtle Beach a favorite vacation destination for Americans and people from around the world.