A motion picture studio could depict Spanish explorers in full 15th century regalia poking around the sedge and sand investigating what is now the beach boundary of Horry County, North Myrtle Beach.
The studio could change the scenery in seconds to the 1700s and show Blackbeard, “the scourge of the Atlantic,” and his band of pirates occupying the inlets.
Most of this stretch of the beach was unsettled until 1900 when the first railroad came through. The Intracoastal Waterway provided more access in 1936, and as property changed hands and developers acquired land, four distinct areas emerged and became independently incorporated: Ocean Drive in 1948, Crescent Beach in 1953, Cherry Grove in 1959 and Windy Hill in 1964.
These individual governing bodies realized that becoming one city was a more efficient way to govern, so in 1968 the citizens voted to consolidate and named their city North Myrtle Beach. This provided nine miles of coastline for fishermen, sun lovers and children who romped in the sand and surf.
Each of the four beaches continues to have a separate identity, and the color-coded “Way Finding Signs” posted on North Myrtle Beach street signs indicate the individual boundaries. Blue is designated for Ocean Drive, purple delineates Crescent Beach, green is for Windy Hill and red signifies Cherry Grove.
Dick Hester, resident of North Myrtle Beach since 1956, mayor of the city from 1984-88 and current chairman of newly founded North Myrtle Beach Area Historical Museum, has vivid memories of the development of North Myrtle Beach.
“We were really small in 1956. About 200 people were in the town of Ocean Drive, about 1,000 in all four beaches. We [including his wife, Judy] knew everybody.”
One change makes him melancholy.
“The thing that sticks in my mind is how we used to be close-knit. Now we hardly know our neighbors,” he said.
North Myrtle Beach native Patsy Bellamy Duncan echoes Hester’s words.
“The best thing was the small hometown atmosphere that we used to have here,” she said. “Everybody knew everybody. Now you go out and it’s not that way.”
She reminisced about how her father, Merlin Bellamy, founded the first rescue squad in the area and how he was the first North Myrtle Beach chief of police. She was named the first Miss North Myrtle Beach in 1971 and donated her sash and evening gown to the North Myrtle Beach museum. She said two years of living in Colorado after earning her registered nurse credentials was enough time away from North Myrtle Beach.
“I had sand in my shoes. I had to come home,” she said.
Ruth Anne Ellis, director of North Myrtle Beach Visitors Center and a museum board member, said the only thing that changed when North Myrtle Beach became a city was the name. She was born in the old Conway Hospital, has lived in Cherry Grove since she was a toddler and was in the first graduating class from North Myrtle Beach High School.
“I have Horry County blood,” she said with pride, and explained that her father was a volunteer firefighter.
“We roamed the beaches. We could drive on the beaches. It was so wonderful,” she said and added that one resident owned horses, and the young people could ride the horses on the beach after Labor Day.
Both Ellis and Duncan remember Hurricane Hazel in 1954 and how it decimated the area. The popular Roberts Pavilion with its arcade, bowling alley, skating rink and other attractions was completely destroyed. The Harrelson family bought the property, and in 1955 Roy Harrelson rebuilt the pavilion and added an amusement park. Both were open into the ‘80s until the property was sold.
Hester explained that the facades on the buildings on Main Street have basically stayed the same over the years, and Duncan confirms his words.
“From Hoskins Restaurant to the ocean, those buildings are still standing,” she said.
A phone message at Hoskins Restaurant states it has served patrons for 65 years, and owner Tina Yates said she and her husband, Lenton Yates, took ownership 25 years ago after her parents, Bryan and Joan Floyd, had it. Her grandparents, Leona and Hubert Hoskins, opened it because construction and other activities were in the area but there wasn’t a restaurant, Tina said. The building is painted now, but a picture of the original hangs in the dining room.
“We actively work here,” she said. “The menu hasn’t changed drastically, but cost of food has changed.”
The restaurant opens for breakfast at 7 a.m., starts lunch at 11 a.m. and dinner at 4:30 p.m. and stays open until 9 p.m. It shuts its doors from the Sunday after Thanksgiving until around Valentine’s Day each year.
“So I can stay home,” Tina said.
Farther up U.S. 17 at 17th Avenue South is the oldest business in North Myrtle Beach, Allen’s Auto Service, which opened in 1943. Owner Jerry Allen’s father, Herbert Allen, started the business, which repairs cars and does body work.
The decal on the office door says 1945, but that’s because no paperwork is available for the two previous years, said secretary and office manager Jane Decker. She has worked at Allen’s Auto Service for 26 years and continues to be on the job 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
“We used to be open on Sunday,” she said. “It’s gotten bigger and more hectic,” she added. “They work on any kind of cars.”
Attractions from Memorial Day to Labor Day that began about five years ago are the O.D. Pavilion & Amusement Park and the sliding board. The city provides the 40-foot high Trippo sliding board on the beach, and Harold Worley leases the land he owns at 90 S. Ocean Blvd. to a company that offers rides, games and food. The O.D. Pavilion, Worley said, can be rented year round.
The newest attraction in the city is the North Myrtle Beach Area Historical Museum on Second Avenue North, which opened April 7 at the former location of the North Myrtle Beach library. The artifacts, relics and displays concentrate on the northeast corner of Horry County, said director Jenean Todd. Probably the most famous North Myrtle Beach native is “Wheel of Fortune’s” Vanna White, who has contributed items for display at the museum.
The population of the city has expanded to about 15,000 people on the city’s 17 square miles, and on Oct. 21 a groundbreaking ceremony celebrated the proposed Coastal North Town Center at the north end of North Myrtle Beach to be open in September 2014.
“We welcome everyone,” Ellis said.
0 comments:
Post a Comment