Just 390 people live in town. Many are trying to fight the town's being swallowed up by North Myrtle Beach to the north and Myrtle Beach to the south.
A HISTORY
Atlantic Beach started out in the 1930s when a black man named George Tyson bought two tracts of ocean-front land so that other blacks could enjoy the ocean during the Jim Crow law South days. Blacks were not allowed on white beaches.
When he could no longer afford the land, he sold to a group of blacks from North and South Carolina who split the property into property for hotels, clubs and summer homes. After WW II, many black doctors, lawyers, and other professionals came here as did former soldiers when they were building the air force base.
There were bumper cars, a merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel and bars. Restaurants and businesses lined the main street. Juke boxes played the great soul music that became the basis of today East Coast Beach Music that is so popular today. The Pavilion was very popular as well.
When the Jim Crow laws started dying in the 1960s, blacks started going to Myrtle Beach, the "luster of the Black Pearl began to fade. Absentee landlords let their property crumble, and corruption moved in." Crime and drugs flourished.
The future of this town looks very grim indeed.
I know that Liz and I accidentally ended up in this community the first time we came to the Grand Strand area, and beat a hasty retreat out of it. We were very frightened and have never been back.
Back in the 90s, a movie called "The Shag" was made about Beach Music, and the Atlantic Beach Pavilion was used for the dance scenes.
Let's Hope They are Able to Come Up with a Solution to the Problems. It Would Be a Shame to Let This Part of History Fade Away. --RoadDog
RoadDog's RoadLog Blog: Being my travels down those great two lane highways of this nation as well as news I learn about them from media sources. Since I'm also very interested in historic preservation, there will be a lot of that as well.
The Shamrock Court Motel in Sullivan, Missouri. It can be yours for $125,000. Lots of possibilities. Actually, now you're too late. Missouri's Roamin' Rich bought it.
4 comments:
We were in the Myrtle Beach area last week, and wanted to check out the Black Pearl. We made our way that, but beat a hasty retreat as the area didn't look too safe. What a shame!
I had the opportunity to visit Atlantic Beach on 08/06/10 and I was shocked. "Out in 30" was the comment made by the father of friend that I was traveling with. Meaning that 30 minutes was all we were going to give to viewing this beach. We were all a little "scared" of what we saw. Compared to Surfside Beach we were staying, Atlantic Beach looked worn out. Coming from Nashville and being excited about seeing the ocean, I was also saddened about the beach and it's surroundings. Hopefully one day it can be brought back to it's glory days.
We accidentally went to it many years ago and also beat a hasty retreat.
I understand the pavilion there was used in the movie "The Shag."
Really too bad when a historic beach like this falls into disrepair.
My parents grew up near Holden Beach, NC and always traveled 45 minutes to Atlantic Beach in the 50's, 60's, and as a teenager I was there a few times in the 70"s. The best times!
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