<P> After the railroad was finished, employees of the lumber and railroad company would take train flatcars down to beach area on their free weekends, becoming the first Grand Strand tourists . The railroad terminus was nicknamed "New Town", contrasting it with the "Old Town", or Conway . </P> <P> Around the start of the 20th century, Franklin Burroughs envisioned turning New Town into a tourist destination rivaling the Florida and northeastern beaches . Burroughs died in 1897, but his sons completed the railroad's expansion to the beach and opened the Seaside Inn in 1901 . </P> <P> Around 1900, a contest was held to name the area and Burroughs' wife suggested honoring the locally abundant shrub, the Southern Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera). The Withers post office changed its name to Myrtle Beach soon afterward . It incorporated as a town in 1938 and as a city in 1957 . </P> <P> In 1937, Myrtle Beach Municipal Airport was built, however it was promptly taken over by the United States Army Air Corps in 1940 and converted into a military base . Commercial flights began in 1976 and shared the runway for over 15 years until the air base closed in 1993 . Since then the airport has been named Myrtle Beach International Airport . In 2010 plans to build a new terminal were approved . In 1940, Kings Highway was finally paved, giving Myrtle Beach its first primary highway . </P>

Where did the name myrtle beach come from