Cherry Grove around 1955 Jack Thompson - North Myrtle Beach Historical Museu Shag dancing, tiger sharks and Vanna White: 50 years of North Myrtle Beach BY MEGAN TOMASIC mtomasic@thesunnews.com May 04, 2018 04:36 PM NORTH MYRTLE BEACH When Steve Gann was growing up in Cherry Grove, he would sit on top of his grandfather's motel and look for miles in all directions, his eyes resting on the Cherry Grove Pier, one of the landmarks that has not changed in 50 years. Nothing was built over three stories high. At night, Gann would walk up and down the boulevard, visiting the big Ferris wheel in the Ocean Drive section of North Myrtle Beach.
"We'd walk down the boulevard, just little mom-and-pop motels were all there was, and you knew everybody," Gann said. "I mean, my grandparents knew everybody. The mayor would come by and stop in and have dinner." At that time, the city was split into four towns Windy Hill, Crescent Beach, Ocean Drive and Cherry Grove. In 1968, residents of the towns voted to consolidate into one large city. Now, the oceanfront is lined with high-rise hotels and bustling streets as the city prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary on Monday. The incorporation A sign reading "You thought big, now act big. Vote for North Myrtle Beach" was placed around the four towns, encouraging residents to vote for incorporation of the towns into a city. On May 7, 1968, the majority of residents voted in favor of the change. "I think the different people realized that if they incorporated into one city that they could save money," said Cathy Altman, executive director of the North Myrtle Beach Area Historical Museum. "They could incorporate and pull their resources and offer those city services to all the residents." The incorporation did not mean a loss of identity for the individual towns, she said. "They're very proud of that, but they're also proud to be a resident of North Myrtle Beach," Altman said. According to Ben Burroughs, director of the Horry County Archives Center at Coastal Carolina University, those identities centered around beach music, which was big in Ocean Drive. Windy Hill was known for its large dunes, Burroughs said, and Cherry Grove was known for fishing. "The rest of them were basically small towns," Burroughs said. "They had their own little amusement parks, and they were family beaches."
One of the parks that lined the beachfront in North Myrtle Beach. North Myrtle Beach Historical Museum At the time, one road led guests into the area, which was separated from Myrtle Beach by a few miles of empty land. "I considered like Ocean Drive and Crescent Beach as way up there," Burroughs said. "Because you'd go through an area where there was nothing for a long drive before you got to it." To help attract people to the area, the Cherry Grove Pier was built in 1952. Two piers were built in Windy Hill, one in Crescent Beach and the Tilghman Pier on Ocean Drive. All four piers were destroyed by hurricanes over the years and were never rebuilt. "You look around and you don't recognize the landscape, but the [Cherry Grove] pier is something that doesn't change," Gann said. "It has a lot of sentimental value to a lot of people."
Hurricane Hazel In October 1954, Hurricane Hazel a Category 4 storm wiped out much of the Grand Strand. According to reports from the National Weather Service, the storm produced 106 mph winds in Myrtle Beach, one of the worst storms to hit South Carolina. According to Altman, houses were blown from their foundations, and many structures were destroyed. A house in North Myrtle Beach after Hurricane Hazel. Horry County Archives Center / Horry County Museum For Frank Boulineau, owner of the IGA Grocery Store, ACE Hardware Store, Platt's Seafood and other shops in North Myrtle, the storm wreaked havoc on his family. "I could see how my father went from being pretty well-off and having pretty much anything he wanted to having nothing for a short period of time," Boulineau said. "But he went to work, him and his wife, my mother, and worked their way out of the hole and put things back together." Despite the destruction, the storm acted as a turning point for the north end of the Grand Strand.
According to Boulineau, Cherry Grove was an area of the beach that rebuilt quickly. Boulineau said that after the storm, houses from Ocean Drive and Crescent Beach were moved to the Cherry Grove oceanfront. "Hurricane Hazel cleaned it out and so new construction started," Burroughs said. "And so, this time, new construction, it was different. They were closer to the ocean, they were taller, they were bigger. And the old community of homes slowly started falling away." Claims to fame The City of North Myrtle Beach has four major claims to fame Vanna White, a 1,780 pound shark caught off the Cherry Grove Pier, the PGA Tour's first female lead golf announcer, Kelly Tilghman, and shag dancing. White, a popular hostess on "Wheel of Fortune," is a North Myrtle Beach native. "Vanna lived in the Crescent Beach section, however, whenever she visits there's certain places she makes her rounds to, so to speak," Altman said. Those places include Painter's Homemade Ice Cream and Hoskins Restaurant on Main Street. Now, the North Myrtle Beach Historical Museum has an exhibit specifically for White. In 1964, a tiger shark was caught by Watler Maxwell from Charlotte, N.C. According to Gann, the shark measured about 20 feet in length, one of the largest sharks ever caught. Tilghman is a North Myrtle Beach native who was part of Golf Channel since its inception and became the first full-time female play-by-play announcer for PGA Tour tournaments. She decided to leave the network to pursue other endeavors in March.
A world record tiger shark was caught off the Cherry Grove Pier in 1964. North Myrtle Beach Historical Museum Shag dancing One of the most well-known characteristics of North Myrtle Beach is shag dancing. Across North Myrtle Beach, pavilions and dance clubs were geared toward shag dancing. The dance was popular in Virginia Beach, Charlotte, Greenville and Myrtle Beach. "It was not a large number of people and it kind of evolved, no one started it, it came from the swing era and was slowed down and polished and made prettier," said Norfleet Jones, a North Myrtle Beach resident. "Different kinds of music were introduced." And when the dance was introduced in the 50s and early 60s, the beach was the perfect spot.
"Race music" - tunes that were marketed toward primarily only African- Americans - was not permitted to be played on the radio in those days, Jones said. At the beach, however, the songs were played over the jukebox. "It had three things location, location, location," Jones said. "It was at the beach. It was a whole different lifestyle." Today, North Myrtle Beach hosts several competitions, including the Junior SOS and the National Shag Dance Competition. "I ve never looked at it personally as a dance," he said. "It s a great deal more of a lifestyle." Today Over 16,000 people live in North Myrtle Beach today, according to the 2016 United States Census. "I hope North Myrtle Beach continues to grow in a good, steady, organized growth," Boulineau said. "The City of North Myrtle Beach and our elected officials have done a very good job with growth." A lifeguard passes umbrellas and chairs for rent in North Myrtle Beach. Thousands from other states flock to the sports tourism park to play in tournaments every year. Barefoot Landing provides shops and restaurants.
But a small amusement park in the Ocean Drive section of the beach next to Main Street reminisces back to the old parks that once lined the beachfront. "It's a very good community, and I just love living here," Boulineau said. Ocean Drive around 1955 Jack Thompson - North Myrtle Beach Historical Museum