Ocean Forest Hotel helped turn Myrtle Beach into a vacation town. Here’s what to know

Emalyn Muzzy
·4 min read

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Despite being gone for nearly 50 years, the destruction of the Ocean Forest Hotel has left a 10-story hole in the hearts of many Myrtle Beach residents.

The once glamorous hotel was the first of its kind in the Grand Strand and helped turn Myrtle Beach into a vacation town.

When it opened in 1930, the hotel brought such luxuries as running hot water, air conditioning and elevators. Being right next to the beach, patrons could decide if they wanted to swim in the outdoor pool, the indoor pool or the ocean. It attracted celebrities such as actor Burt Lahr, who played the cowardly lion in “The Wizard of Oz.”

But 44 years after it opened, it was torn down in 1974. It had become too expensive to operate, the owners told The Sun News at the time. It now remains only in memory.

Here are four facts about the Ocean Forest Hotel:

The Ocean Forest Hotel on Sept. 13, 1974. Jack Thompson said he heard six explosions before the building came down.
The Ocean Forest Hotel on Sept. 13, 1974. Jack Thompson said he heard six explosions before the building came down.

It was initially slated to be a much larger project

The Ocean Forest Hotel was originally part of Arcady, a massive development plan that was never fully built. In 1926, the Woodside brothers of Greenville, South Carolina, bought over 60,00 acres of land, including 12 miles of beach, to develop into the Arcady, according to Woodside History by John Hall.

The original plan was to build a “haven of rest and recreation,” including a golf course, hotel, a golf house, beach club and “main house,” according to a book printed by Arcady Executives in the 1920s and posted to Facebook by Damian Usry.

The book detailed how Arcady would have over 600 hotel rooms available. The Ocean Forest Hotel had over 200 rooms, the constructed golf house had 60, while the main house was planned to have 350.

Developers wanted the Arcady to be a year-round family destination. There were plans for an education facility so that children could do schoolwork while vacationing during the school year. During summer vacation, parents would have been able to drop their kids off at the Boys’ Club, the Girls’ Club or with nurses if the child was young.

“It is expected that the sons and daughters of members will grow to look back on their hours at ARCADY as the happiest time of their time of their lives,” according to the Arcady Executives book.

However, the Great Depression hit around the time the Ocean Forest Hotel was set to open. The Woodside brothers went bankrupt, lost the property and were never able to complete their vision of Arcady.

You can find pieces of the hotel in a local restaurant

Before the hotel was destroyed, parts of it were sold. Dino Thompson, local restaurateur and historian, snagged some pieces and added it to his restaurant, Cagney’s. Since then, Cagney’s has closed, but the Ocean Forest Hotel lives on in the building that was taken over by Carolina Seafood and Steak, which left much of the history intact.

If you visit Carolina Seafood and Steak, located at 9911 N Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, make sure to check out the doors as you walk through. The door frame at the entrance of the restaurant was the door frame to the main entrance of the hotel. There are several other door frames and railings located throughout the restaurant. Many are donned with a plaque describing their past use in the Ocean Forest Hotel.

There may be parts of the hotel scattered around town and the country. Historian and photographer Jack Thompson, unrelated to Dino, said the owners auctioned off parts of the hotel including chandeliers and drapes.

Thompson spent many years photographing the hotel before its demolition.

The doorway to the restrooms is one salvaged from the hotel before demolition. Dino Thompson, Myrtle Beach historian and owner of former Cagney’s incorporated parts of the hotel into the restaurant building.
The doorway to the restrooms is one salvaged from the hotel before demolition. Dino Thompson, Myrtle Beach historian and owner of former Cagney’s incorporated parts of the hotel into the restaurant building.

It helped turn Myrtle Beach into a vacation town

Prior to the opening of the Ocean Forest Hotel in 1930, there was only one store and less than 200 residents living in the village of Myrtle Beach, Hall wrote in his book. The hotel brought new stores, a coffee shop and restaurant, all within the building. With the fancy new hotel in town, it attracted people from all over.

The hotel had an outdoor amphitheater that brought famous actors and musicians. Dino Thompson said he remembers Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman and Diana Barrymore staying at the Ocean Forest Hotel.

“The Ocean Forest set the stage for high-rises and high-end hotels that have helped Myrtle Beach evolve as a destination. It also introduced the Grand Strand to far away states such as New York,” Dawn Bryant wrote in a Sun News article in 2004.

It was the setting for a murder mystery series

“The Murder in Myrtle Beach” is a whodunit series written by local Troy Noee. Two out of the three books feature the Ocean Forest Hotel as a central location of the story.

In the first book, Frankie McKeller begrudgingly comes to Myrtle Beach to attend a wedding for a good friend. Things get interesting when a wedding guest is shot in the head and McKeller helps out in the investigation. In the second book, McKeller returns as the House Detective of the Ocean Forest Hotel, following yet another murder at the beach.