History of Myrtle Beach

The Burroughs and Collins Company of Conway purchased much of the Withers’ family land in 1881, and the growing community was called New Town around the start of the 20th century. A community named "Withers" post office was established at the site of the old Swash in 1888. On February 28, 1899 Burroughs and Collins, predecessor of modern day Burroughs and Chapin, received their charter to build the Conway & Seashore Railroad to transport timber from the coast to inland customers. The Withers post office then was replaced by the first Myrtle Beach post office in the early 1900s. The railroad began daily service on May 1, 1900 with two wood-burning locomotives. One of the engines was dubbed The Black Maria and came second-hand from a North Carolina logging operation.

After the railroad was finished, employees of the lumber and railroad company would take train flatcars down to beach area on their free weekends, becoming the first Grand Strand tourists. The railroad terminus was nicknamed "New Town", contrasting it with the "Old Town", or Conway.

Around the start of the 20th century, Franklin Burroughs envisioned turning New Town into a tourist destination rivaling the Florida and northeastern beaches. Burroughs died in 1897, but his sons completed the railroad's expansion to the beach and opened the Seaside Inn in 1901.

Around 1900, a contest was held to name the area and Burroughs' wife suggested honoring the locally abundant shrub, the Southern Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera). A Myrtle Beach post office was subsequently built, followed by the area incorporating as a town in 1938 and as a city in 1957.

In 1937, Myrtle Beach Municipal Airport was built, however it was promptly