Atlantic Beach, SC

Atlantic Beach is a small Horry County town on the Grand Strand, surrounded in large part by land annexed into North Myrtle Beach. Its nickname, “The Black Pearl,” comes from a history built by Black families and business owners during the Jim Crow era, when segregation barred them from many coastal resorts. Hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and novelty shops grew here in the 1930s and later, making Atlantic Beach one of the South Carolina coast's best-known Black entertainment destinations.

George W. Tyson began buying oceanfront land in 1934, and the Atlantic Beach Company carried that work forward with help from Black professionals, doctors, and educators. Hurricane Hazel destroyed the ocean pier and many hotels and homes in 1954, but the town continued to organize on its own terms. Atlantic Beach and Pearl Beach joined and incorporated as an independent town on June 15, 1966, despite pressure to be absorbed by neighboring communities. The 2020 census counted 195 residents. The beach, the Gullah Geechee heritage, and the town's independent government remain closely connected.