The term Grand Strand was coined in 1949 by Claude Dunnagan as the title for a newspaper column and has stuck to describe the 60-mile stretch of beach communities between the North Carolina/South Carolina border and Georgetown in the south.

You might also find it described as the Myrtle Beach Area, though this also includes all of surrounding Horry County (pronounced O-Ree). Horry's the largest county in South Carolina with 1,134 square miles and was named for Peter Horry who was a Revolutionary War hero and wealthy plantation owner.

Key Grand Strand destinations

Myrtle Beach is the largest city on the Grand Strand (and has its own separate section), but there's another sizeable city to the north along the coast which is named North Myrtle Beach.