Withers is a name that holds close ties to current-day Myrtle Beach. The Withers family's association with the area began in the mid 1700's when Francis Withers was first awarded 300 acres of present day Myrtle Beach as part of a 66,000-acre land grant. The center of Withers was focused around the current-day Third Avenue South and Withers Swash area of Myrtle Beach.
The Burroughs and Collins Company of Conway purchased much of the Withers' family land in 1881, keeping the Withers name and even seeing the opening of the Withers post office on April 30, 1888. The area was known as Withers until a contest was held in 1900 to give the area a new name. Addie Burroughs, wife of Franklin G. Burroughs, suggested Myrtle Beach because of the wax myrtle bushes that grew in abundance along the strand. Thus Myrtle Beach was born. After the renaming, the Withers post office was replaced by the first Myrtle Beach post office in the early 1900s. Myrtle Beach became an official town in 1938, when it was incorporated, and a city in 1957.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
A bit of summer trivia: Where'd the name Myrtle Beach come from?
A recent press release by RWO Acquisitions announced plans to develop Withers Preserve in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The announcement included an interesting bit of trivia about where the name Myrtle Beach came from.
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2 comments:
Story agrees with what I had heard i.e. Myrtle Beach named after the Wax Myrtle, which some consider to be a tree and is supposed to be a relative of the Crepe Myrtle, but no flowers.
But a great smell if you rub the leaves
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