Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the newest of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of North Myrtle Beach was built recently: 0.1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1997. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1943 on, and the census since 1970.
The North Myrtle Beach post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name. Four smaller post offices, Ocean Drive (1937), Crescent Beach (1947) and Cherry Grove Beach (1948), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
Among the newest of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Myrtle Beach is among the newest of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
South Carolina towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical South Carolina town has 3.2 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so North Myrtle Beach’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (23% of South Carolina towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
North Myrtle Beach’s post office has been open since 1970. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of North Myrtle Beach.
In 1737, William Gause obtained a grant to 250 acres (100 ha) of land near Windy Hill Beach. He farmed the area and also established a tavern for travelers along the Kings Highway.
North Myrtle Beach was created in 1968 with the consolidation of Cherry Grove Beach, Crescent Beach, Ocean Drive Beach, and Windy Hill Beach.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveNorth Myrtle Beach - Street Scene
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereVanna White is born here
In the archiveWacky Golf
In the archivePelican Point mini golf, lighthouse3 decades in the archive, from the 1940s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Myrtle Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of North Myrtle Beach.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on North Myrtle Beach’s page.
Retake this view · +15Grew from 1,957 people in 1970 to 18,790 in 2020, 9 times over.
6 censuses, 1970–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on North Myrtle Beach’s Wikipedia page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The North Myrtle Beach post office opened in 1970, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
North Myrtle Beach is among the newest of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
0.1% of North Myrtle Beach’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 3.5% for a South Carolina town; the median home was built in 1997.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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