Half of Surfside Beach’s homes were built after 1985
More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #155 of 169 in South Carolina. What drives it
Most of Surfside Beach was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1937 on, and the census since 1970.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Surfside Beach is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #155 of 169 in South Carolina. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
D−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Surfside Beach’s overall grade.
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 Surfside 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.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.3 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
What stands out about Surfside Beach’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In the early nineteenth century, there is evidence of a slave plantation of 3,200 acres (1838) at what is now Surfside Beach. There are traveler accounts from the eighteenth century of the area. The 1765 diary of John Bartram, botanist, shows him lodging at what was probably Stephen Peak's slave plantation, "at the west end of long bay". In 1773, William Bartram, naturalist, also "got to the West end of Long Bay, where [he] lodged at a large Indigo plantation". The plantation in question was called "The Ark", a name for which the first record is in 1867; it may have originally been owned by "Mr. Aark". In 1820 it was owned by John Tillman. The 1838 survey recorded it having 3,194 acres. The plantation reported 57 enslaved people in 1850 and 63 in 1860. In 1850 the crops were sweet potatoes and rice. Other farmed animals and crops are thought to have included cattle, sheep, pigs, Indian …
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Surfside Beach. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1937Myrtle Beach sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Surfside Beach.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewMagic Harbor giant ferris wheel, 1985
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Surfside Beach’s page.
Surfside Beach is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #155 of 169 in South Carolina. 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.
How old are the homes in Surfside Beach?
0.0% of Surfside 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 1985.
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 (8), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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2026
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2023
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