Happy 83rd birthday to the City of Myrtle Beach
Myrtle Beach officially became a town on March 12, 1938, when the state charter was issued. Here’s a historic view of Main Street, circa 1940, looking east from Oak Street.
The 1937 ballot question about incorporation of Myrtle Beach as a town passed on a vote of 133 to eight. Of the 159 qualified voters, 141 went to the poll that day for a turnout of nearly 89 percent. The town’s population was just 1,597 in 1940, according to the U.S. Census. The population passed the magic 5,000 mark in the mid-1950s, and Myrtle Beach became a “city” on January 4, 1957.