Main Street in Conway, around 1906. The township plan implemented in 1731 to protect Charleston with a ring of settlements, called for a town along the west bank of the Waccamaw River, originally named Kingston in honor of George II. The area had only thin soils, so was settled originally by Scots-Irish who established small family farms, in contrast to the large plantations surrounding them to the south and west. In 1785, the old Georgetown District was subdivided to create four new counties; one of them was named Kingston, and then in 1801 was renamed Horry in honor of Peter Horry, a Revolutionary hero. At the same time, the courthouse town was renamed Conwayborough to honor another Revolutionary veteran, Robert Conway. The name was shortened to Conway in 1883. Though it has a Robert Mills courthouse, and still serves as the Horry County seat, Conway is probably best known since the Second World War as the gateway to the Grand Strand, South Carolina's golden beach tourist and vacation center.
Courtesy of the South Caroliniana Library.
