Jump to content

Horry County, South Carolina

From Niidae Wiki
Revision as of 06:58, 20 May 2025 by imported>Sohom Datta (dummy edit)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county

Horry County (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell) is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 351,029.<ref name="2020CensusQuickFacts"/> It is the fourth-most populous county in South Carolina. The county seat is Conway.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> Horry County is the central county in the Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina, about Template:Convert north of Charleston, and about Template:Convert east of the state capital, Columbia.

History

[edit]

Horry County was created from Georgetown District in 1801. At this time, the county had an estimated population of 550. Isolated by the many rivers and swamps typical of the South Carolina Lowcountry, the area essentially was surrounded by water, forcing its inhabitants to survive without much assistance from the "outside world". This caused the county residents to become an extremely independent populace, and they named their county "The Independent Republic of Horry". The county was named after, and in honor of, Revolutionary War hero Peter Horry<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> who was born in South Carolina around 1743. Horry started his military career in 1775 as one of 20 captains, elected by the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, to serve the 1st and 2nd Regiments. In 1790, he was assigned to the South Carolina militia under Brigadier General Francis Marion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The population has increased more than fourfold since 1970, as the area has become a destination for retirees and people owning second homes. It has been developed for resorts and retirement communities. The majority-White residents have constituted a majority-Republican voter base since the late 20th century.

On October 29, 2012, the county paid homage to the man for whom the county is named. It commissioned a bronze sculpture of Peter Horry, installing it inside the Horry County Government and Justice Center. The sculpture was designed by artist Garland Weeks. Coastal Monument of Conway designed the stone base. The base of the sculpture is inscribed with the names of the 1801 commissioners on one side and the names of 2011 Horry County Council members on the other; a brief biography of General Peter Horry is on the front. It cost slightly more than $16,200 for both the bust/sculpture and the stone base.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In addition to official and academic resources, local history enthusiasts have contributed to preserving Horry County’s heritage. One example is the Horry County Legacy Project, a website dedicated to documenting and sharing the county’s history. The project, available through the Horry County Museum, features articles, photographs, and other resources that highlight the county’s cultural and historical development. Local historian Nicholas Gallagher has played a significant role in curating and presenting the content on this platform.

Geography

[edit]

Template:Maplink

File:Burroughs School Conway SC 1905 Building Jun 10.JPG
Horry County Museum in Conway

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (9.68%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is the largest county by land area in South Carolina.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The highest point in the county is Template:Convert above sea level.<ref name="Horry County 2011-2012 Budget:Community Profile on page 24">Template:Cite web Horry County 2011-2012 Budget: Community Profile on page 24</ref>

Horry County is in the northeastern corner of South Carolina. It is a diverse land made up of rivers, beaches, forests, and swamps, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Little Pee Dee River and Drowning Creek (also known as the Lumber River) on its western side, and North Carolina to the north. The Waccamaw River, around Template:Convert long, runs through southeastern North Carolina and eastern South Carolina into Horry County. The river runs through the coastal plain, along the eastern border between the two states, and into the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name="A Historical Look at Horry County">Template:Cite web</ref>

National protected area

[edit]

State and local protected areas/sites

[edit]

Major water bodies

[edit]

Adjacent counties

[edit]

Demographics

[edit]

Template:US Census population

2020 census

[edit]
Horry County racial composition<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Race Num. Perc.
White (non-Hispanic) 265,729 75.7%
Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 39,367 11.21%
Native American 1,174 0.33%
Asian 4,578 1.3%
Pacific Islander 303 0.09%
Other/mixed 15,574 4.44%
Hispanic or Latino 24,304 6.92%

As of the 2020 census, 351,029 people, 140,260 households, and 89,281 families were residing in the county.

2010 census

[edit]

At the 2010 census, 269,291 people, 112,225 households, and 72,254 families resided in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. The 185,992 housing units averaged Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 79.9% White, 13.4% Black or African American, 1.0% Asian, 0.5% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 3.1% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 6.2% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> In terms of ancestry, 15.3% were American, 13.4% were African American (which can include other ethnicities), 13.3% were Irish, 12.8% were German, 11.3% were English, and 6.1% were Italian.<ref name="census-dp2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 112,225 households, 27.3% had children under 18 living with them, 47.2% were married couples living together, 12.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.6% were not families, and 26.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.37, and the average family size was 2.84. The median age was 41.1 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $43,142 and for a family was $51,608. Males had a median income of $37,351 versus $29,525 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,811. About 11.6% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.2% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Law, government, and politics

[edit]
File:Horry County Ralph Ellis Complex & Police Precinct 107 & 109 (May 2023) 3.jpg
Horry County Ralph Ellis Complex near Little River

State delegation

[edit]

Horry County has a South Carolina House of Representatives delegation made up of 10 state representatives. In addition, the county has a South Carolina Senate delegation made up of five state senators. The delegations work concurrently to represent county issues in Columbia.

State House of Representatives delegation

[edit]

The county's State House of Representatives delegation is currently made up of:

District Representative Party Residence
55 Jackie E. Hayes Template:Party shading/Democratic |Dem Dillon
56 Tim McGinnis Template:Party shading/Republican |Rep Myrtle Beach
57 Lucas Atkinson Template:Party shading/Democratic |Dem Marion
58 Jeff Johnson Template:Party shading/Republican |Rep Conway
68 Heather Ammons Crawford Template:Party shading/Republican |Rep Myrtle Beach
103 Carl Anderson Template:Party shading/Democratic |Dem Georgetown
104 William Bailey Template:Party shading/Republican |Rep North Myrtle Beach
105 Kevin Hardee Template:Party shading/Republican |Rep Loris
106 Val Guest, Jr. Template:Party shading/Republican |Rep Myrtle Beach
107 Case Brittain Template:Party shading/Republican |Rep Myrtle Beach

State Senate delegation

[edit]

The county's State Senate delegation is currently made up of:

District Representative Party Residence
28 Greg Hembree Template:Party shading/Republican |Republican North Myrtle Beach
30 Kent M. Williams Template:Party shading/Democratic |Democratic Marion
32 Ronnie A. Sabb Template:Party shading/Democratic |Democratic Greeleyville
33 Luke A. Rankin Template:Party shading/Republican |Republican Conway
34 Stephen Goldfinch Template:Party shading/Republican |Republican Murrells Inlet

County council

[edit]

The county council of Horry County consists of members who represent 11 single-member districts with a chairman voted at-large. The county council meets at the Horry County Government and Justice Center in the first week of every month.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Patricia S. Hartley is the clerk to council, members of the county council include:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Current county council members

[edit]
Name District Term Expires
Johnny Gardner Chairman December 31, 2026
Jenna L. Dukes 1 December 31, 2026
Bill Howard 2 December 31, 2026
Dennis J. DiSabato, Jr. 3 December 31, 2024
Gary Loftus 4 December 31, 2024
Tyler Servant 5 December 31, 2026
Cam Crawford 6 December 31, 2024
Tom Anderson 7 December 31, 2026
Michael Masciarelli 8 December 31, 2026
R. Mark Causey 9 December 31, 2024
Danny Hardee 10 December 31, 2024
Al Allen 11 December 31, 2022

Template:Missing information

Past composition of the county council

[edit]
Period Year Chairman (at-large) District 1 District 2 District 3 District 4 District 5 District 6 District 7 District 8 District 9 District 10 District 11
Past 2007 rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Republican |Liz Gilland rowspan="16" Template:Party shading/Republican |Harold Worley rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="16" Template:Party shading/Republican |Al Allen
2008
2009 rowspan="8" Template:Party shading/Democratic |Marion Foxworth rowspan="14" Template:Party shading/Republican |Gary Loftus rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="12" Template:Party shading/Republican |W. Paul Prince rowspan="8" Template:Party shading/Republican |Jody Prince
2010
2011 rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Republican |Tom Rice rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Republican |Brent Schulz rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Republican |Paul Price rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Independent |Unknown rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Republican |Carl Schwartzkopf rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Democratic |James Frazier
2012
2013 rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Republican |Bob Grabowski*
2014
2015 rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Republican |Mark Lazarus rowspan="8" Template:Party shading/Republican |Bill Howard rowspan="8" Template:Party shading/Republican |Tyler Servant rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Democratic |James Frazier rowspan="8" Template:Party shading/Republican |Johnny Vaught rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Republican |Bob Grabowski*
2016
2017 rowspan="6" Template:Party shading/Republican |Dennis DiSabato rowspan="6" Template:Party shading/Republican |Cam Crawford rowspan="6" Template:Party shading/Republican |Danny Hardee
2018
2019 rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Republican |Johnny Gardner rowspan="4" Template:Party shading/Republican |Orton Bellamy
2020
Current 2021 rowspan="2" Template:Party shading/Republican |R. Mark Causey
2022
* Note: Bob Grabowski's seat was renumbered from District 6 to District 8 during the redistricting of council seats.

Law enforcement

[edit]

The Horry County Police Department provides 24-hour services to the unincorporated areas of the county. It is the only county police department in South Carolina.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Horry County Sheriff's Office is responsible for courthouse security, processing of warrants, fingerprinting, registration of sex offenders, funeral escorts, background checks, and managing the J. Reuben Long Detention Center.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The South Carolina Highway Patrol has a Troop 5 barracks in Conway, and provides services throughout the county.<ref>Retrieved 2011-06-04</ref> Myrtle Beach, Conway, Briarcliffe Acres, Atlantic Beach, Surfside Beach, Loris, and Aynor all have their own police departments, which patrol within the relevant town or city's border. North Myrtle Beach has a Public Safety Department, which provides police and fire services in the city of North Myrtle Beach.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In March 2020, Todd Cox, a former Horry County police officer, was fined $300 for failing to investigate reports of sex crimes against children.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He and three other officers had been indicted in 2016 on charges of coercing sex and ignoring cases.<ref name="Herald 2016">Template:Cite news</ref>

Party strength

[edit]

Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFootHorry County used to be loyally Democratic, even by the standards of the Solid South. In 1936, Republican candidate Alf Landon did not receive a single vote in Horry County. In 1964, though, Barry Goldwater carried the county by a margin almost as large as John F. Kennedy's 1960 margin. It has voted Republican in every election since, with the exception of supporting the third-party candidacy of Alabama Governor George Wallace in 1968 and neighboring Georgia's Jimmy Carter in 1976. While conservative Democrats continued to hold most local offices into the 1990s, today, there are almost no elected Democrats left above the county level. No Democratic presidential candidate has received more than 40% of the county's vote since 2000.

Economy

[edit]

Template:See also In 2022, the GDP was $18.3 billion (about $45,922 per capita),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the real GDP was $15.3 billion (about $38,472 per capita) in chained 2017 dollars.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2013, PTR Industries, a gunmaker,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> relocated to the Cool Springs Business Park<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> near Aynor from Bristol, Connecticut. That state had passed restrictive gun control legislation following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Twenty-one PTR employees relocated from Bristol. The company stated that it would hire an additional 30 workers in the first quarter of 2014, with a goal of having 120 employees by 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Template:As of, some of the largest employers in the county include Adidas, the city of Myrtle Beach, Coastal Carolina University, Food Lion, Hilton Grand Vacations, Publix, and Walmart.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Employment and Wage Statistics by Industry in Horry County, South Carolina - Q3 2023<ref name=":0" />
Industry Employment Counts Employment Percentage (%) Average Annual Wage ($)
Accommodation and Food Services 34,736 23.7 29,588
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services 8,498 5.8 42,744
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting 211 0.1 49,608
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation 5,831 4.0 26,260
Construction 8,791 6.0 59,644
Educational Services 8,771 6.0 59,592
Finance and Insurance 3,203 2.2 77,532
Health Care and Social Assistance 17,448 11.9 62,556
Information 1,813 1.2 65,468
Management of Companies and Enterprises 515 0.4 79,300
Manufacturing 3,534 2.4 52,208
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction 69 0.0 74,204
Other Services (except Public Administration) 3,713 2.5 37,492
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services 4,815 3.3 68,796
Public Administration 6,859 4.7 56,836
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing 4,787 3.3 44,356
Retail Trade 26,720 18.2 35,152
Transportation and Warehousing 3,141 2.1 48,568
Utilities 629 0.4 73,892
Wholesale Trade 2,730 1.9 61,308
Total 146,814 100.0% 45,424

Transportation

[edit]

Major highways

[edit]

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Airports

[edit]

Mass transit

[edit]
  • The Coast RTA<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> bus system operates seven days a week, 364 days a year, on 15 routes throughout the Horry County/Grand Strand area, including Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, Garden City, Conway, Loris, and Aynor.

Communities

[edit]

Cities

[edit]

Towns

[edit]

Census-designated places

[edit]

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Unincorporated communities & neighborhoods

[edit]

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Template:Reflist

Further reading

[edit]
  • Horry County, South Carolina, 1730-1993, Catherine Heniford Lewis, University of South Carolina Press, 1998, Template:ISBN
[edit]

Template:Commons category

Template:Geographic Location Template:Horry County Template:South Carolina Template:Authority control