Simeon B. Chapin was an entrepreneur and visionary who, along with
Franklin G. Burroughs, helped create the foundation of what is Myrtle
Beach today. B.B. Benfield built and opened the area's first movie
theater, and Lawrence Boulier was a landscape artist and founder of the
Waccamaw Arts and Crafts Guild. John Woodside built the grand Ocean
Forest Hotel. Col. H.B. Springs was the town's first insurance and real
estate agent, and James Bryan Sr. was the first president of Myrtle
Beach Farms. Blanche Floyd was a beloved teacher and author, and W.L.
Harrelson made history by serving as Myrtle Beach's first mayor. Earl
Husted brought the first amusement park rides to this area, and Anthony
James left after high school to make a name for himself as the first
widely known actor from the Myrtle Beach area. The stories of these
Myrtle Beach notables and many more fill the pages of this book. Some of
these names may be unfamiliar, but each of these legendary locals, in
his or her own way, has helped make Myrtle Beach the historical hometown
and vacationers' paradise that it is today.