While golf is king, fishing, boating, kayaking and water sports are perennially popular entertainment. In fact, next to golf, the beaches, inlets, and rivers could be the area’s greatest attractions. Among the many species native to the area, anglers can catch wahoo, trout, and snapper. The Gulf Stream warms the Atlantic through the winter here, so fishing is a year-round hobby. You can fish from one of our eight piers, charter a boat, surfcast, or cast a line in one of the many inlets and tidal marshes. The yearly Grand Strand Fishing Rodeo, sponsored by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, is a 47-year tradition offering cash and prizes totaling more than $10,000, and there are other popular fishing events throughout the area.
Grand Strand shopping has reached the level of an art form, with outlet centers, quaint shops, upscale malls, and everything in between. Major retailers like Sears, Belk, and JCPenney are located in the area as well as specialty outlets such as Liz Claiborne. Shopping and entertainment venues like Broadway At The Beach and Barefoot Landing are attractions in themselves.
Horry County is the largest county in the state in land area (1,143 sq. miles), and became a full political subdivision of the state in 1785 when the Georgetown district was subdivided into four counties. The county was first called Kingston District. Later, the name was changed to Horry County in honor of Brig. General Peter Horry, a Revolutionary War hero.
Kings Highway (one of the main thoroughfares in the area) began as an Indian trail long before Europeans settled along the Grand Strand. Later, this trail became the route from the northern states to Charleston and Savannah. The area's first inhabitants were the Waccamaw and Winyah Indians who named the region Chicora, meaning "the land". Until the 1900s, the beaches of Horry County were virtually uninhabited due to the country's geographical inaccessibility and sparse economy.
Near the turn of the century, the Burroughs & Collins Company, a timber- turpentine firm with extensive beachfront holdings, began developing the resort potential of the Strand. In 1901, the company built the beach's first hotel, the Seaside Inn. 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. Mrs. F.E. Burroughs, wife of the founder of Burroughs & Collins Company, won the competition with Myrtle Beach, a name she chose for the many wax myrtle trees growing wild along the shore.
The history of Horry County and Conway has always and continues to involve agriculture. With 1,110 farms -- the average size being 197 acres -- the county is represented by 218,800 acres of declared farmland. The Waccamaw River and moss-draped oaks set the scene for an abundance of arts and cultural activities, events, and programs in Conway, South Carolina's Historic River Town. All year long, Conway and neighboring cities and towns celebrate the seasons with music, theater, festivals, song and dance. The arts and the cultural community make Conway a wonderful and enriching place to live and visit.
Horry County is the second fastest growing county in the U.S. by percentage of both population and job creation, according to American Demographics. Although tourism is the top revenue producing industry in Horry County, Conway's economy is quite strong and diverse.
That the first settlement of Europeans on the North American continent north of Mexico may have been made on the lower Waccamaw Neck, or what is now known as Winyah Bay, is a little-known fact. It is only through the recent publication of Spanish Archives that we are able, with any degree of certainty, to place the location of this earliest Carolina settlement.
In July, 1526, six ships and a tender carrying 500 men, women and children (and 89 horses) set sail from Santo Domingo to establish a settlement. They appear to have made landfall at the mouth of the Cape Fear River (which they called the Jordan). Not finding a location to their liking, these first settlers moved down the coast with the women and children aboard ship and the men on horseback. Around the middle of August, the ill--fated Spanish expedition established itself near the mouth of the Waccamaw, close to where LaFayette was to spend his first night in America almost two and a half centuries later. Thus it was that these first settlers, traveling from the Cape Fear River to Winyah Bay, passed through what is now Horry County, over the Indian coastal trail which was later developed into the "Kings Highway" or Highway 17.
Originally part of colonial Craven County, Horry County has also been part of Prince George Winyah (1722), Prince Frederick (1734), and All Saints (1767) parishes, which served as early religious and civic jurisdictions. This area, which became part of newly formed Georgetown District in 1769, was given its present boundaries and named Kingston County in 1785. In 1801, it was renamed Horry District, and, in 1868, Horry County.
A planter of French Huguenot descent, Peter Horry (O-ree) was born in South Carolina in 1747. A lieutenant colonel in the Revolution and later brigadier general in the state Militia, he represented Prince George Winyah and All Saints parishes in the SC House and Senate. In 1801, Kingston County was renamed Horry District for Horry. He died in 1815 and is buried at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbia, SC.
