A relatively young city, Myrtle Beach has quickly earned an international reputation as a tourism mecca on the South Carolina coast, yet no comprehensive history of the community's quick rise to prominence existed until now. Public historian Barbara F. Stokes fills in the blanks as she maps the development of the Grand Strand's centrepiece in this account of the historical, economic, climatic, and cultural forces that shaped Myrtle Beach.

Illustrated with forty-two photographs, this narrative history of Myrtle Beach tells the most complete story to date of how a sleepy coastal farming region grew into an internationally renowned tourist destination.