A New Day
by Geri Glavis
Title
A New Day
Artist
Geri Glavis
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
Photography by Geri Glavis, copyright 2015.
Myrtle Beach /ˈmɜrtəlˈbiːtʃ/ is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina.
Myrtle Beach is one of the major centers of tourism in the United States because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches, attracting an estimated 14 million visitors each spring/summer/fall.[3] As of the 2012 census, the population of the city was 28,292, with the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area population at 465,391 according to the 2013 census.
Technically a man-made island, Myrtle Beach has been separated from the continental United States since 1936 by the Intracoastal Waterway,[4] forcing the city and area in general to develop within a small distance from the coast. In part due to this separation, the area directly west of Myrtle Beach across the waterway remained primarily rural, whereas its northern and southern ends were bordered by other developed tourist towns, North Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach. Since then, the inland portion of the Myrtle Beach area has developed dramatically and the beach itself is developing westward.
Due to strong erosion and tropical cyclones along the Atlantic Ocean, the city is separated from its beach by large dunes populated with sea grasses, which stabilize the sandy soil underneath and act as a natural seawall against storm surge. In conjunction, the city has also renourished the beach's sands several times, with one instance almost immediately followed by the landfalls of hurricanes Hugo and Hazel, necessitating a second replenishment to fill in the quick loss of the first.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.55 square miles (61.0 km2)
According to K�ppen climate classification, Myrtle Beach has a humid subtropical climate or Cfa � typical of the Gulf and South Atlantic states. The city enjoys abundant sunshine year-round with more than 2800 hours annually.
Myrtle Beach is protected from erosion by vegetation-filled sand dunes.
The summer season is long, hot, and humid in Myrtle Beach. Average daytime highs are from 83 to 91 �F (28 to 33 �C) and average night-time lows are near 70 �F (21 �C). The coastal location of Myrtle Beach mitigates summer heat somewhat compared to inland areas of South Carolina: Thus, while nearby Florence, SC averages 65 days annually with high temperatures of 90 �F or higher � Myrtle Beach averages only 21. The Bermuda High pumps in humidity from the tropical Atlantic toward Myrtle Beach, giving summers a near tropical feel in the city. The warm Atlantic Ocean reaches 80 �F or higher in the summer months off Myrtle Beach, making for warm and sultry summer nights. Summer thunderstorms are common in the hot season in Myrtle Beach, and the summer months from June through September have the most precipitation. In summer, thunderstorms normally build during the heat of the day � followed by brief and intense downpours.
Myrtle Beach has mostly mild winters of short duration: Average daytime highs range from 57 to 61 �F (14 � 16 �C) and nighttime lows are in the 36 to 38 �F (2 � 3 �C) from December through February. Winter temperatures vary more than summer temperatures in Myrtle Beach: Some winters can see several cold days with highs only in the upper 40s F (7 � 9 �C), while other winter days can see highs in the upper 60s and low 70s F (19 � 23 �C). Myrtle Beach averages 33 days annually with frost. Snowfall is very rare in Myrtle Beach and this part of the state, although a few times every decade a trace of snow might fall. In February 2010, a rare 2.8 inches of snow fell in Myrtle Beach and most recently on February 16, 2013 after a rare storm mixing snow and rain with the snow falling after the rain. The Spring (March and April) and Fall (October and November) months are normally mild and sunny in Myrtle Beach, with high temperatures in the 60s and 70s. The beach season in Myrtle Beach normally runs from late April through late October. SST (Sea Surface Temperatures) are often in the lower 80's (26 � 28 �C) off South Carolina in summer and early fall.
Summer thunderstorms can be severe, but tornadoes are rare in Myrtle Beach. Tropical cyclones occasionally impact Myrtle Beach, though weaker tropical storms and weak tropical lows are more common. Like most areas prone to tropical cyclones, a direct hit by a major hurricane is infrequent in Myrtle Beach. The last hurricane to cause significant damage in Myrtle Beach was Hurricane Hugo in 1989. The worst hurricane in the history of Myrtle Beach was Hurricane Hazel in 1954.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Long Bay area was inhabited by the native Waccamaw Tribe. The Waccamaw used the river for travel and fished along the shore around Little River. Waties Island, the primary barrier island along Long Bay, has evidence of burial and shell mounds, remains of the visiting Waccamaw.[23]
The first European settler along Long Bay arrived in the late 18th Century, attempting to extend the plantation system outward towards the ocean.[24] Records are sparse from this period, with most of the recorded history pieced together from old land grants documents.
These settlers were met with mixed results, producing unremarkable quantities of indigo and tobacco as the coast's soil was sandy and most of the crop yields were of an inferior quality.
Prior to the American Revolution, the area along the future Grand Strand was essentially uninhabited. Several families received land grants along the coast, including the Witherses: John, Richard, William, and Mary. This family received an area around present-day Wither's Swash, also known as Myrtle Swash or the eight-Mile Swash. A separate grant was granted to James Minor, including a barrier island named Minor Island, now Waties Island, off of the coast near Little River.[25]
Mary Wither's gravestone at Prince George Winyah Episcopal Church speaks to the remoteness of the former Strand: "She gave up the pleasures of Society and retired to Long Bay, where she resided a great part of her life devoted to the welfare of her children."[26]
As the American colonies gained independence, the area remained essentially unchanged, and the coast remained barren. George Washington scouted out the Southern states during his term, traveling down the King's Highway. He stayed a night at Windy Hill (part of present day North Myrtle Beach) and was led across Wither's Swash to Georgetown by Jeremiah Vereen.[27]
The Withers family remained one of the few settlers around Myrtle Beach for the next half-century. In 1822, a strong hurricane swept the house of R. F. Withers into the ocean, drowning 18 people inside. The tragedy made the Withers family decide to abandon their plots along the coast.
Left unattended, the area began to return to forest.[28]
Original Myrtle Beach Air Force Base during World War II
The Burroughs and Collins Company of Conway, predecessor of modern day Burroughs & Chapin, purchased much of the Withers� family land in 1881, and the growing community was called New Town around the start of the 20th century. A post office named "Withers" to serve the site of the old Swash in 1888. On February 28, 1899 Burroughs and Collins received a charter to build the Conway & Seashore Railroad to transport timber from the coast to inland customers. The railroad began daily service on May 1, 1900 with two wood-burning locomotives. One of the engines was dubbed The Black Maria and came second-hand from a North Carolina logging operation.
After the railroad was finished, employees of the lumber and railroad company would take train flatcars down to beach area on their free weekends, becoming the first Grand Strand tourists.[29] The railroad terminus was nicknamed "New Town", contrasting it with the "Old Town", or Conway.
Around the start of the 20th century, Franklin Burroughs envisioned turning New Town into a tourist destination rivaling the Florida and northeastern beaches. Burroughs died in 1897, but his sons completed the railroad's expansion to the beach and opened the Seaside Inn in 1901.[30]
Around 1900, a contest was held to name the area and Burroughs' wife suggested honoring the locally abundant shrub, the Southern Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera). The Withers post office changed its name to Myrtle Beach soon afterward. It incorporated as a town in 1938 and as a city in 1957.[31]
In 1937, Myrtle Beach Municipal Airport was built, however it was promptly taken over by the United States Army Air Corps in 1940 and converted into a military base. Commercial flights began in 1976 and shared the runway for over 15 years until the air base closed in 1993. Since then the airport has been named Myrtle Beach International Airport. In 2010 plans to build a new terminal were approved. In 1940, Kings Highway was finally paved, giving Myrtle Beach its first primary highway.
The Myrtle Heights-Oak Park Historic District, Myrtle Beach Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Station, Ocean Forest Country Club, Pleasant Inn, and Rainbow Court are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Also listed was the Chesterfield Inn, now demolished.[32]
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January 11th, 2015
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