North Myrtle Beach, SC: Four Beaches Since 1968, the Shag on Main Street, Cherry Grove's Channels and Barefoot Across the Waterway

After midnight, the shaggers went up the beach to Cherry Grove. The shag is a partner dance, and once Ocean Drive's strict midnight curfew ended the night there, the couples kept dancing in Cherry Grove, which had no curfew at all. N.F. "Sonny" Nixon had built a pavilion there in 1949, and Sonny's became the late-night spot for the shag, as the Horry County Historical Society's marker for Sonny's Pavilion tells it. Back at Ocean Drive, the jukeboxes at Roberts Pavilion were playing the post-war rhythm and blues that came to be called beach music.

North Myrtle Beach is four beaches that joined as one city in 1968 and still go by their old names, and the city has since grown west across the Intracoastal Waterway to Barefoot Resort. My name is Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943. I'm a mortgage broker licensed in South Carolina through C2 Financial Corporation, I have been in the mortgage business since 1996, and I work from Bluffton, down the coast in Beaufort County. My Myrtle Beach area page already covers Horry County as a whole, from how fast it is growing to the county's RIDE road programs. It also explains the lower 4% property tax rate on a home you live in, and flood and wind insurance near the coast. This page stays in North Myrtle Beach, from the Cherry Grove marsh down to Windy Hill and across the Waterway, and I checked its facts in public sources on October 19, 2026.

Roberts Pavilion, Hurricane Hazel and the name O.D.

William Roberts built Roberts Pavilion on the oceanfront at Ocean Drive in 1936. Hurricane Hazel destroyed it on the morning of October 15, 1954. The Horry County Museum's photographs of that storm, catalogued by the Horry County Historical Society, place Hazel's landfall at the Ocean Drive section of what is now North Myrtle Beach. Between 1955 and 1957, the Ocean Drive Pavilion went up on the same site and the same foundation, built with timbers salvaged from the old one. Its historical marker says the area "is still called Ocean Drive or 'O.D.'" even though it became part of the new city in 1968. You'll see the name on the OD Pavilion and the OD Lounge.

The rebuilding changed the look of the beach as well. The South Carolina Encyclopedia says Hazel sped up development here, because it cleared away older dwellings and made it easier to put land together. The city's tourism office writes that the old cottages and early guest hotels gave way to Mid-Century Modern motels. If you'd like to see what came before, the North Myrtle Beach Area Historical Museum is at 799 2nd Avenue North, in a former library building, and it opened there on April 7, 2013.

Four beaches, one charter

Before 1968 there were four beaches here, each with its own builders. Investors from Florence developed Ocean Drive Beach and Crescent Beach. Investors from Conway built Windy Hill after World War II, and Windy Hill is still the southernmost section of the city. Cherry Grove came together in 1950, when Futch Beach was joined to the Nixon family's Cherry Grove property, according to the same South Carolina Encyclopedia entry.

A 1967 act of the legislature, Act 559, led to the consolidation, and a 2007 State House resolution gives the city's charter date as May 7, 1968. Residents approved it by referendum, and Robert L. Edge was the first mayor. Atlantic Beach, the stretch of oceanfront between Windy Hill and Crescent Beach, declined to join and is still its own town. Briarcliffe Acres is a separate town on this stretch of coast as well, and I come back to both in the section on what to check, because they matter when you're reading a tax bill.

The shag on Main Street

South Carolina made the shag its official state dance in 1984, as the State House record shows. In 2001 the legislature named beach music the state's official popular music. Accounts differ on where the dance began. The city's tourism office says Ocean Drive was the home of the modern shag by the mid-1940s, and the Shaggers' Hall of Fame is in O.D. If you're looking at a home near Main Street or Ocean Drive, the shag clubs below will be your neighbors.

Fat Harold's Beach Club's current Main Street site dates to 1992, and WMBF reports it has had a North Myrtle Beach location since the 1960s. It went into the Carolina Beach Music Awards Hall of Fame during 1996. After more than a year closed during Covid, it reopened in April 2021, WMBF reported. MyHorryNews describes it as home to the Ocean Drive Shag Club.

Twice a year the shaggers come back by the thousands for SOS, the Society of Stranders. Accounts say it began in 1980 with a party that drew far more people than anyone expected. The Association of Carolina Shag Clubs later took it over, after the group floundered in 1989. The Spring Safari usually runs from late April into early May, and the Fall Migration comes in mid-September. In 2026 the Fall Migration ran September 18 through 27. It plays out along Main Street and Ocean Drive, with Duck's, Fat Harold's, Pirate's Cove and the OD Lounge at the center of it.

Main Street carries the city's St. Patrick's Day parade too. The 36th one stepped off on the morning of Saturday, March 14, 2026, and finished by marching up Main Street to Ye Olde Kings Highway. The festival after it filled Main Street with about 150 vendors and three stages, according to the City's event page. The Christmas parade comes up Main Street as well, on the first Saturday evening of December in 2024 and 2025, and the City posts each year's date. The farmers market grounds, at 1st Avenue North and Bay Street, have two picnic shelters and a lawn right beside the Ocean Drive business district.

Cherry Grove's channels and the marsh behind them

Cherry Grove's channels are man-made. WMBF reported that they went without dredging from the 1950s until the City's project, and many of them could not be navigated at low tide. The area the Army Corps of Engineers approved runs from about 42nd to 63rd Avenue North. The first phase, in 2016 and 2017, cost about $8.2 million.

To help pay for the dredging, the City created the Cherry Grove improvement district in 2015. Council sets the assessment each year. In 2024 it set a single-family parcel at $1,725 and a condo at $1,190, down from around $2,400 when the district started, WMBF reported. If you're looking at a home on one of the channels, I would ask the City what that parcel's assessment is now and how many years are left on it. It is a separate charge on top of the property tax, and I'd want it in your budget.

You park at the west end of 53rd Avenue North for Heritage Shores Nature Preserve, about four blocks from the start. From there the boardwalk makes a loop of about a mile out to a small island in the marsh, and its gazebo looks across Hog Inlet to Waties Island, as SC Trails describes it. The Russell Burgess Coastal Preserve at 3613 Duffy Street has its own marsh boardwalk. You can fish and crab from the ground there, though the City does not allow it from the pier structure. The Cherry Grove boat ramp at 413 53rd Avenue North adds a fish-cleaning station and paid parking.

Waties Island and the Cherry Grove Pier

Waties Island is about two and a half miles of barrier island with nothing built on it. The lower third, oceanfront included, belongs to Coastal Carolina University's Coastal Educational Foundation, which uses it as a field lab. The Open Space Institute bought nearly 260 acres on the northern half from the Boyce family in 2022. In January 2024, the Institute, the SC Office of Resilience and the SC Conservation Bank secured 219 acres more, and the Open Space Institute holds that land until the state can take it on. Another 22 acres are to join the 260 as a Heritage Trust Preserve. The middle of the island was still privately held in the sources I found.

The Cherry Grove Pier has come back more than once. It went up in the early 1950s, the Prince family has owned it since 1965, and Hurricane Hugo destroyed it in 1989 before it was rebuilt. Hurricane Ian split it in half in September 2022. About two-thirds of it reopened on March 22, 2024, WMBF reported, and local news later reported the whole pier back open.

The Army Corps' $72 million renourishment started in Cherry Grove, at 60th Avenue North, in mid-December 2025. Residents raised concerns that no new sand went north of 60th, and the City planned to cover the rest of Cherry Grove with its own work, which it called the Tidewater Spoils Basin Restoration, WMBF reported. If you're looking at oceanfront north of 60th Avenue North, please ask the City where that work stands.

Crescent Beach and its taller oceanfront

If you're shopping for an oceanfront condo in Crescent Beach, the City allows taller buildings in part of it. Since a 2022 vote, oceanfront buildings in that area can go up to 165 feet, and lots one row back are capped at 90 feet, WMBF reported. I'd ask how the building you're considering, and the lots around it, fit those rules, because those rules decide how tall a building next door can go.

Condos are a big part of buying here. Through August 2026, the 29582 ZIP code area had 598 condo and townhome closings and 529 single-family closings, and the condo median was $310,000, by the Coastal Carolinas Association of REALTORS report. If the home you want is a condo, especially an oceanfront one in Crescent Beach, please ask early for the association's budget, its reserve study, the recent board minutes and any special assessments. A reserve study is the association's plan for saving up for big repairs like a roof. South Carolina has no statewide rule requiring a condo association to keep a reserve study or have its building structurally inspected, so each association decides for itself, and those documents show you what yours has done.

Across the Waterway: Barefoot, Robert Edge Parkway and Water Tower Road

Barefoot Landing started in 1972 as the Village of the Barefoot Traders, with 15 stores. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1988 as Barefoot Landing, on filled land over Louis Lake beside the Intracoastal Waterway, and Wikipedia's article describes more than 100 stores and restaurants around a 27-acre lake. The swing bridge between Barefoot Resort and the shopping center is a 1934 bridge that was moved here from Edenton, North Carolina, in March 2000, as Barefoot Golf's history page tells it. It has had mechanical closures, and Horry County's RIDE 4 road program lists replacing it and its approaches at $132 million, to start between 2025 and 2030.

On the far bank, Barefoot Resort's 2,374 acres were annexed into the city and zoned as a planned unit development, a zoning district written for one large property, according to Bolton & Menk, the City's engineer on the project. Its four golf courses were designed by Greg Norman, Pete Dye, Davis Love III and Tom Fazio.

On April 22, 2009, the Highway 31 fire started from a rekindled debris burn on Woodlawn Drive. Over 36 hours it grew to about 19,000 acres. Local retrospectives count 76 homes destroyed and 97 damaged, most of them around Barefoot Resort, and the SC Forestry Commission called it its largest wildfire mobilization on record. Water Tower Road was paved after the fire, which opened that area to building, The Post and Courier reports.

That same year, on September 3, Robert Edge Parkway opened, named for the first mayor. It runs from SC 31 east over the Waterway on the J. Bryan Floyd Bridge and comes down to US 17 and Main Street, and its old name was the Main Street Connector. With buildable land east of the Waterway running short, the city has kept growing along those two roads, Water Tower Road and Robert Edge Parkway, and the newer neighborhoods below are out there. More than 200 acres in the Water Tower Road area came in with multifamily zoning and room for possibly 500 or more homes. In April 2025, council gave final approval to The Preserve, between SC 22 and SC 31, at 597 homes in three phases. It had first been pitched at 804 homes with commercial space, and the commercial space was removed.

Council has turned some land down as well. In December 2024 it annexed 58.3 acres near SC 22 and SC 31 for 49 homes on one-acre lots, on a 4 to 3 vote, WMBF reported. It rejected a 30-acre annexation on Coates Road, citing a lack of public-safety infrastructure. A state bid notice from March 2026 covers new turn lanes on Water Tower Road at McDowell.

The North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex is at 150 Citizens Circle, with a Little River mailing address. It has fields for baseball, softball, soccer and lacrosse, three miles of trails, disc golf, an amphitheater and the Waggin' Tails dog parks, and more than 1,800 teams a year come to play there. A $36 million expansion of about 90 acres began in May 2024 and was finished in November 2025, according to the City's expansion page. At Central Park, off Possum Trot Road, the City announced the start of construction on a 15-court pickleball complex in October 2025, at an estimated $6.5 million. I could not confirm whether it has opened yet.

US 17 through Windy Hill

Down in Windy Hill, RIDE 4 also lists a $24 million widening of US 17 from 46th Avenue South to Ocean Creek. It adds dual left-turn lanes at 46th Avenue South, the turn toward Barefoot Resort Bridge Road, and at 48th Avenue South. Horry County's project page shows it as not yet started, due to begin between 2025 and 2030. The intersection work SCDOT began on US 17 through the city in September 2026 is on my area page.

Schools and McLeod Seacoast

North Myrtle Beach High draws from North Myrtle Beach Middle and from Ocean Drive, Waterway and Riverside elementaries. Its attendance area covers the city, Atlantic Beach and parts of Little River and Longs. It enrolled 1,654 students in 2023-24, according to Wikipedia's article on the school, and its listings carry a Little River address. For 2026-27, Horry County Schools forecasts Riverside Elementary at 112% and Waterway Elementary at 115% of what the district calls functional capacity. Attendance lines can move as the district adds schools, so once you have an address, please look it up on the district's current zoning map.

McLeod Seacoast, in Little River, began as an outpatient center during 2000 and opened as a 50-bed hospital in July 2011. Its 28-bed emergency department opened in July 2016, and a tower added in 2018 raised its capacity, McLeod Health says. Grand Strand Health's freestanding ER in Little River, which opened in June 2026, is on my area page.

The City runs the water, the trash routes and the Beach Patrol

Inside the city limits, the City of North Myrtle Beach is your water and sewer utility, so you'd apply to the City for service, as its FAQ explains. City crews pick up trash, recycling and yard waste once a week. If you rent the home out short-term, the City's Sanitation page says it adds Friday, Saturday and Sunday pickups in season, which in 2026 ran from May 1 to October 2.

The City's Department of Public Safety is at 1015 2nd Avenue South. Its police divisions include a Beach Patrol and a marine unit, and North Myrtle Beach Fire Rescue runs five stations.

Things I would check on a North Myrtle Beach address

A North Myrtle Beach mailing address can belong to more than one town. ZIP code 29582 also carries Atlantic Beach addresses, and Briarcliffe Acres is a separate town on the same stretch of coast. A mill is one dollar of tax for every $1,000 of a home's assessed value, and each town sets its own millage. In the 2025 county table, Atlantic Beach's was 82.0 mills and Briarcliffe Acres' was 45.0, so neighboring homes can carry different town lines on their bills. The City's own sports complex has a Little River address, and on the Barefoot side I'd confirm the city limits parcel by parcel. The parcel's tax district on the Horry County property record settles all of it, and if you send me the address, I'll look it up with you.

Inside the City of North Myrtle Beach, the city line went up this year. For fiscal year 2027, City Council raised the city's millage from 45 to 50 mills and raised water and sewer fees, in a budget of about $190.2 million, MyHorryNews reported. By its figures, on a $500,000 home you live in, the millage change adds about $100 a year, and the water and sewer increase adds about $125 more. The 45 mills you may see on my area page come from the 2025 table, before this change. The rest of the bill works the same here as across Horry County: the county's 52.1 mills, the school lines and the 4% rate for a home you live in, and that page walks through it.

If you plan to rent the home out, the City's short-term rental page asks for a standard business license, renewed every year, with no separate rental permit. Rentals have to follow the City's trash, parking, noise and occupancy rules. In November 2024 the City presented a proposed ordinance with an annual permit and a local responsible party for each rental, and staff estimated about 5,400 short-term rentals in the city, WMBF reported. Council had not decided it in the sources I found, so please check with the City before you count on today's rules. A home rented out more than 72 days in a calendar year is also assessed at 6% instead of 4%, and that roughly triples the tax on it.

From a North Myrtle Beach address to your monthly payment

The payment I qualify you on carries your property tax, with the city's 50 mills if the home is inside the City. It also carries your homeowners and wind coverage, flood insurance if the home is in FEMA's high-risk zone, and any condo or community dues. Between a Cherry Grove oceanfront condo and a home at Barefoot Resort, those quotes can come out differently, so I'd get them on the specific address before you write an offer. On a channel-front home in the Cherry Grove improvement district, I'd want that assessment in your budget too. Your water and sewer bill comes from the City and is paid separately from your mortgage. Horry County's 2026 conforming and FHA loan limits, the largest loans Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA will take here, are in the box below this article. The 29582 ZIP area's year-to-date median single-family sale is above the FHA limit for a single-family home and below the conforming limit for one.

Getting pre-approved in South Carolina explains what I'll ask you to provide and what the letter tells a seller. Once you're ready, you'll see pricing for your own scenario and choose a rate option, and you can change that choice later. If you already own in Cherry Grove or Crescent Beach, refinancing in South Carolina is where I'd start on your rate, and a cash-out refinance covers using your equity. If you're weighing the beach against the inland side of Horry County, I've written the same kind of page for Conway and Carolina Forest. My South Carolina page covers attorney closings and the rest of the state's rules.

Nothing on this page is a loan approval, a denial or a commitment to lend, and none of it is tax advice. The Horry County Assessor sets the value and the tax class on a specific parcel, and the parcel's record shows which town, if any, it is in, so please confirm both before you rely on them.

Common questions

Is Atlantic Beach part of North Myrtle Beach?

No. Atlantic Beach declined to join when Cherry Grove, Ocean Drive, Crescent Beach and Windy Hill consolidated in 1968, and it is still its own town, with its own oceanfront between the Windy Hill and Crescent Beach sections. Some Atlantic Beach homes share the 29582 ZIP code, so the parcel's tax district on the Horry County property record is the way to tell which town a home is in.

What does O.D. mean in North Myrtle Beach?

O.D. is Ocean Drive, one of the four beaches that became North Myrtle Beach in 1968. The name stayed after the merger. You'll see it on the OD Pavilion, built in the 1950s on the foundation of Roberts Pavilion after Hurricane Hazel, and on the OD Lounge.

When is SOS in North Myrtle Beach?

The Society of Stranders brings shaggers to Main Street and Ocean Drive twice a year. The Spring Safari usually runs from late April into early May, and the Fall Migration comes in mid-September. In 2026 the Fall Migration ran September 18 through 27.

Is Barefoot Resort inside the city of North Myrtle Beach?

Yes. Barefoot Resort, on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway, was annexed into the City of North Myrtle Beach and zoned as a planned unit development. Please confirm a specific parcel's tax district on the Horry County property record before you rely on it.

Did North Myrtle Beach raise its property tax rate?

Yes. For fiscal year 2027, City Council raised the city's millage from 45 to 50 mills, and it raised water and sewer fees too. That city line applies to homes inside the City of North Myrtle Beach. Atlantic Beach and Briarcliffe Acres set their own.

Do I need a permit to rent out a home in North Myrtle Beach?

Today the City asks for a business license, renewed every year, and rentals follow the City's trash, parking, noise and occupancy rules. A proposed ordinance with an annual permit and a local responsible party was presented in November 2024, and it had not been decided in the sources I found, so please check with the City first. A home rented out more than 72 days in a calendar year is assessed at 6% instead of 4%.