In 1954, Hurricane Hazel tore through Myrtle Beach, and the surrounding areas, leaving immense amounts of damage. This greatly affected the areas tourist population for a couple of years. In the first effort to revitalize the area, Myrtle Beach became a city in 1957. Just a few years later, rebuilding of the area was underway. (Stokes, 2007) During this period, Myrtle Beach got extra exposure from illustrations created by artist, Ben Prins. In August of 1957 and July of 1961, the Illustrations of Myrtle Beach appeared as covers on the Saturday Evening Post. These illustrations gave Myrtle Beach national recognition as a vacation spot. These illustrations are now showcased at the Chapin Memorial Library, in Myrtle Beach. With the rebuilding came a whole new legacy for Myrtle Beach-golf. Today Myrtle Beach is known as a golf vacation spot because of the multitude of gold courses and the perfect golf weather. Currently, Myrtle Beach has more than one hundred different courses to choose from and hosts many different golf championships; including Hootie and the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Pro AM, Know Your Score: Fight Prostate Cancer Celebrity Golf Tournament, and the largest high school gold championship, the Palmetto High School Golf Championship. The 1960's was an important time of rebuilding for Myrtle Beach and led the way for the vacation hot spot we all know and love today.(Anderson, 2010)
During the 1970's the Myrtle Beach area experienced a steady rate of growth. Construction during this time included the Myrtle Beach Convention Center and the South Carolina Hall of Fame.(Anderson, 2010) During this time the area also experiences a growth in their permanent population with thousands of people moving to Myrtle Beach yearly; tripling the permanent population.(US Census, 2014) Construction continued throughout the 1980's with the addition of many tourist attractions and shops. The following decade, the area experienced yet another construction boom with the addition of many new resorts and tourist attractions. (Anderson, 2010)