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Historic 1930 map looks back at the Grand Strand's early days

Look closely at the map, shown below, to see how the Grand Strand appeared nearly 90 years ago.  Published in 1930, the text reads, “Map of the South Carolina Coast from Little River to Georgetown, showing the proposed Intracoastal Waterway, the principal highways, the estates and points of historical interest, with descriptions of each.”  The Intracoastal Waterway opened in 1936, six years after the map was created by T. M. Jordan, a civil engineer and one of the area’s early residents.  In fact, members of his family still live in Myrtle Beach.

Some of the names on the map still exist, such as Hobcaw, True Blue, Caledonia and Brookgreen, but others have passed into the archives.  Floral Beach is now known as Surfside Beach, and Spivey Beach is part of present-day Myrtle Beach.  Note the absence of east-west roads.  To get from Conway to Myrtle Beach in 1930, you had to drive south to the Socastee Swing Bridge, then drive north along what we call Highway 707 and Highway 15.  The railroad line from Conway to Myrtle Beach, built in 1900, is shown on the map, but the road we know today as US 501 didn’t exist until the late 1940s.

For perspective, consider that the City of Myrtle Beach was incorporated in 1938, eight years after this map was published.

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