It is located in the center of a long and continuous 60-mile (97 km) stretch of beach known as the "Grand Strand” in the northeastern part of the state.

During the colonial period, the Whither family settled in the area, and a prominent local waterway, Wither's Swash, is named in their honor.

[15] The first European settlers along Long Bay arrived in the late 18th century, attempting to extend the plantation system outward toward the ocean.

These settlers gained mixed results, producing unremarkable quantities of indigo and tobacco, the two major commodity crops.

Several families received land grants along the coast, including the Witherses: John, Richard, William, and Mary.

[17]: 36 Mary Withers's gravestone at Prince George Winyah Parish Church speaks to the remoteness of the former Strand: "She gave up the pleasures of Society and retired to Long Bay, where she resided a great part of her life devoted to the welfare of her children.

He stayed a night at Windy Hill (part of present-day North Myrtle Beach) and was led across Wither's Swash to Georgetown by Jeremiah Vereen.

On 28 February 1899, Burroughs and Collins received a charter to build the Conway & Seashore Railroad to transport timber from the coast to inland customers.

Around the start of the 20th century, Franklin Burroughs envisioned turning New Town into a tourist destination rivaling the Florida and northeastern beaches.

[20] Around 1900, a contest was held to name the area, and Burroughs's wife suggested honoring the locally abundant shrub, the southern wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera).

Myrtle Beach has been separated from the continental United States since 1936 by the Intracoastal Waterway,[23] forcing the city and area in general to develop within a small distance from the coast.

The Bermuda High pumps in humidity from the tropical Atlantic toward Myrtle Beach, giving summers a near-tropical feel in the city.

Myrtle Beach has mostly mild winters of short duration: Average daytime highs range from 57 to 61 °F (14 to 16 °C) and nighttime lows are in the 36 to 38 °F (2 to 3 °C) from December through February.

[24][25] The spring (March, April and May) and fall (September, October and November) months are normally mild and sunny in Myrtle Beach, with high temperatures in the 60s and 70s.

Like most areas prone to tropical cyclones, a direct hit by a major hurricane is infrequent in Myrtle Beach.

[37] Myrtle Beach's economy is dominated by the tourist industry;[38] hotels, motels, resorts, restaurants, attractions, and retail developments exist in abundance to serve visitors.

The Myrtle Beach Convention Center is a large facility that hosts a variety of meetings, conferences, exhibits, and special events every year.

[45] Myrtle Beach is also home to Coastal Uncorked, a food and wine festival held in the late spring annually.

Due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic the festival wasn't held in 2020, but is scheduled to return in 2021 and take place on 10–13 June 2021.

With regular flights to and from destinations such as Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, New York and Washington, the airport is well connected for both domestic and international tourists.

The event was created in response to a history of discrimination against African-American visitors and riders to Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand Area.

Several lawsuits by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) against Myrtle Beach businesses were settled with agreements that discrimination cease, compensation be given to some plaintiffs, and employees be given diversity training.

Hosted by Coastal Carolina University each year, the tournament pits participating NCAA Division I baseball programs in the United States.

NASCAR-sanctioned Stock car racing was held at Myrtle Beach Speedway, a .538-mile (866 m), semi-banked, asphalt-paved oval track lon US 501.

Drivers in the Late Model classes will compete (against those of Greenville-Pickens Speedway) for the South Carolina Championship in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

Like many newspapers, the paper has declined in recent years due to shifts in readership and financial pressures at its parent company.

In 2020, Charleston-based The Post and Courier set up an official bureau in Myrtle Beach, after years of attempting to move into the market and purchasing The Georgetown Times, which it merged with the new operation.

It has been painstakingly restored to its former glory and the Carolina Southern Railroad has become one of the frequent destinations for freight services as well as passenger cars and observational locomotives.

[86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94][95] In 2015, railroad operator RJ Corman acquired the former CSR line and re-opened it freight service in early April 2016.

RIDE II plans include the third phase of S.C. Highway 31, a graded separation of Farrow Parkway and US 17 Bypass at the back gate of the former Air Force base, and many other projects.