Myrtle Beach Genealogy Records
Myrtle Beach genealogy research draws on Horry County records, as Myrtle Beach is located in Horry County along the Grand Strand coast. The city was incorporated in 1938 and developed as a resort destination, but the surrounding Horry County area has a much longer history going back to the county's 1801 formation. All official genealogy records for Myrtle Beach residents are held at the Horry County Probate Court and Register of Deeds in Conway, the county seat. The Chapin Memorial Library in Myrtle Beach and the Horry County Memorial Library in Conway are the primary local research facilities for Myrtle Beach genealogy.
Myrtle Beach Quick Facts
Chapin Memorial Library for Myrtle Beach Genealogy
The Chapin Memorial Library at 400 14th Avenue N, Myrtle Beach, SC 29577 is the primary local library serving the Myrtle Beach community and provides access to genealogy research resources. Phone: (843) 918-1275. The library holds local history materials, newspapers, and reference resources that help researchers trace families connected to the Myrtle Beach area. Because Myrtle Beach was developed largely as a resort community, the library's collections reflect both the history of the city's development and the history of the Horry County coastal area more broadly. Researchers looking for records of families who lived in the Myrtle Beach area before the city's incorporation will find that Horry County resources, including those at the Horry County Memorial Library in Conway, cover that earlier period.
The Horry County Museum at 428 Main Street, Conway, SC 29526 holds the primary historical collections for the county and includes materials on the coastal communities that became Myrtle Beach. The museum documents the agricultural, lumber, and turpentine economy that supported Horry County families before tourism transformed the coast. Coastal Carolina University, located in Conway, maintains university archives and supports genealogy and local history research through its library collections. The university's resources can help researchers access materials on Horry County families and the history of the Grand Strand area.
Myrtle Beach's development as a twentieth-century resort city means that genealogy research for earlier residents draws on the broader Horry County records held in Conway rather than city-specific records from Myrtle Beach itself.
Horry County Records for Myrtle Beach Genealogy
The Horry County Probate Court at 1301 2nd Avenue, Conway, SC 29526 holds marriage licenses from July 1, 1911 through June 30, 1950 and estate records from the county's 1801 formation. Phone: (843) 915-5370. For Myrtle Beach marriages from July 1950 onward, contact the South Carolina Department of Public Health at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia, SC 29201. Phone: 803-898-3630. Estate records for the Horry County coastal area document the families who farmed, harvested timber, and engaged in the turpentine trade that sustained the local economy before the resort era.
The Horry County Register of Deeds at 1301 2nd Avenue, Conway maintains land records for Myrtle Beach properties and all of Horry County. Phone: (843) 915-5408. Property records for the Myrtle Beach area document land ownership through the county-level recording system, including the resort development period of the twentieth century and the earlier agricultural period. The SCDAH Online Records Index includes early land plats from the Horry County formation period that cover the coastal lands along the Grand Strand.
Myrtle Beach Vital Records
South Carolina required birth and death registration starting January 1, 1915. The South Carolina Department of Archives and History holds Horry County birth records for 1915 to 1918 online and death records for 1915 to 1963. The South Carolina Department of Public Health holds vital records from 1915 to present at 2600 Bull Street, Columbia. Phone: 803-898-3630.
The free South Carolina death index for genealogy covers Horry County deaths from 1915 through 1967. Records for Myrtle Beach residents are filed under Horry County. For genealogy before 1915, church records and census data are the primary sources. The Horry County area was served by Baptist, Methodist, and other Protestant congregations whose records document vital events from the early nineteenth century forward. Researchers tracing families from the Myrtle Beach coastal area before the resort era will find that these church records and census data are essential for filling the gap before South Carolina's statewide vital records system began.
The State Library genealogy guide helps Myrtle Beach researchers identify which Horry County and state offices hold specific record types based on date range, particularly useful given the city's relatively recent incorporation in 1938.
Nearby Cities
Myrtle Beach is in Horry County. Conway is the county seat and holds all Horry County genealogy records. The surrounding area includes Carolina Forest and other Horry County communities.