Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Myrtle Beach is a city located in Horry County, South Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 22,759.The metropolitan population is counted at 196,629 in 2000.

Miscellaneous

Myrtle Beach is a major tourist destination along the South Atlantic seaboard of the United States, widely known for its wide beaches, large selection of challenging golf links, excellent seafood restaurants, and outlet-style shopping activities. For this reason, the Myrtle Beach area attracts over 14 million visitors a year. In fact, the area is so popular with tourists from West Virginia, many West Virginians jokingly refer to the area as the state's '56th county' or as the southern-most point of West Virginia.

Related Topics:
Atlantic - West Virginia

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Location

It is set at the center of a 60-mile long chain of tranquil, sandy beaches known as the "Grand Strand", and is only a couple hours' drive from such historical day-trip destinations as Charleston, SC and Wilmington, NC.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

News and Education

It is served by one daily newspaper, "The Sun News". A digital newspaper is being started, The Horry Weekly. Coastal Carolina University, its nearest 4-year co-educational institution of higher learning, is located 10 miles outside of town.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Airports

It is also served by the Myrtle Beach International Airport, located on the old U.S. Air Force base on the south side of town.

Related Topics:
Myrtle Beach International Airport - U.S. Air Force

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sports and Leisure

The South Atlantic League's Myrtle Beach Pelicans, a class A farm franchise for the Atlanta Braves major league baseball club, plays its home games at Coastal Federal Field. It also has more miniature golf courses than anywhere else in the world. Myrtle Beach also have many well known attractions for visitors. Broadway at the Beach which is located on the north side of the city is known widely for its restaurants and all kinds of entertainment venues such as Ripley's Aquarium and NASCAR Speedpark. At the heart of downtown located right off of U.S. Highway 501 there is the Myrtle Beach Pavilion which is a major amusement park in the area that draws a lot of attention to visitors and locals.

Related Topics:
South Atlantic League - Myrtle Beach Pelicans - Atlanta Braves - Miniature golf - U.S. Highway 501 - Myrtle Beach Pavilion

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Shopping and Entertainment

Also located off of Hwy 501 at the intersection of U.S. Highway 17 bypass is the huge Coastal Grand Mall. At 1.5 million square feet, the Coastal Grand is supposedly the largest mall in South Carolina. Other entertainments throughout the city and area are Alligaror Adventure, Family Kingdom Amusement Park, Myrtle Waves, the Carolina Opry, the House of Blues, Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede, Medieval Time and also Ripley's Believe it or not Museum.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roads

Within the past ten years (and massive growth to the county's population), new roads have been put into place. Most of these roads follow the Metro Loop Road Plan, organized in 1997 to better the traffic flow of Myrtle Beach.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New roads in Horry County include (since 1999):

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• S.C. Route 22 (2000), which is a bypass around Conway for anyone taking US 501 into North Myrtle Beach. It will eventually be the southern terminus of Interstate 73.
• Harrelson Boulevard (2003), a connector from US 17 to the Myrtle Beach International Airport (will eventually connect to Kings Highway).
• Grissom Parkway (2004), a connector from the airport to the Carolina Forest area, eventually turning into International Drive.
• US 501 Upgrade (2005), a widening and interchange project from US 17 to Tanger Outlet Center, providing a nonstop, no-stoplight trip for three miles.
• Carolina Forest Interchange (2004), an interchange connecting Robert Grissom Parkway's northern terminus at S.C. 31 at the intersection of Carolina Forest Blvd.
• S.C. Route 31 (2005), a north-south bypass from Highway 9 in Little River to Surfside Beach, now in its third phase. It will eventually be the eastern terminus of Interstate 74.

Future roads will include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Fantasy Harbour Interchange, connecting Harrelson Blvd. to the former Waccamaw Outlet Malls, forming a bypass around the congested US 501.
• North Myrtle Beach Connector, connecting S.C. 31 into the city of North Myrtle Beach around Main Street. It will eventually be Interstate 174.