'Surf City, here we come': How did the Pender town get its name? Hint: Not from the song.

After Jan & Dean recorded their catchy hit "Surf City," the song topped the charts and allowed listeners around the country to imagine the coolness and relaxation of beach life in the 1960s.

Although the tune about having fun, riding waves and partying is relatable to many on Topsail Island during the summer, they weren't singing about the one in North Carolina. But it's hard to imagine the classic is not in the back of people's minds when they're visiting the coastal community in Pender and Onslow counties.

"Nobody has ever asked in a serious way," said Tammy Proctor, public information officer about the song. "People talk about it over the years, even long as I lived here over half of my life."

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Founded in 1949, the local Surf City has grown from a small fishing village to what tourism officials are calling the heart of Topsail Island for more than 60 years.

According to "Born in Reconstruction: The Story of Pender County, 1524-2010," written by retired Superior Court Judge Gary E. Trawick and former town attorney, the development and incorporation of Surf City came from the work of a property owners of a large track of island land.

After World War II when the island was used for training purposes, the island was released to land owners who purchased buildings and began converting the area into an ocean resort in the late 1940s. Michael Y. Taylor, a board member of the Pender County Museum & Historical Society, said Edgar Yow played a major role in the development and suggested the name for Topsail Island. Information was published in work from author David Stallman.

"Mr. Edgar Yow was main force communicating with the government to release the island back to landowners and leaving the pontoon bridge built in 1941 by the military," Taylor stated. "It was the only bridge for 13 years until the steel swing bridge was built by the (North Carolina Department of Transportation) in 1954."

In the 1940s, the heirs of J.H. Batts started a subdivision called "Long Island Beach." In May 1948, the portion was encompassed into "Surf City Subdivision No. 1," according to Trawick's book. This would become the nucleus for North Carolina's Surf City.

Yow prepared and sent a charter to the North Carolina General Assembly to incorporate the town, which was ratified on March 23, 1949. A group named D.N. Lucas as the first mayor, while Gerald C. Mercer and A.H. Ward were commissioners. Ward was designated as the public works director.

Four 'Surf' cities for everyone

Released in 1963, the duo of the late Jan Berry and Dean Torrence was thinking about Huntington Beach, Calif. when they were making the song with help from Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. They sing about going to the beach in a 1934 wagon to a place where there's "two girls for every boy."

In 1991, Huntington, a city located in the greater Los Angles area, nicknamed their town "Surf City, USA." But receiving the official trademark came with some controversy and lawsuits since Santa Cruz, a city in Northern California, also wanted to claim the Surf City moniker. According to an article from Surfer Today, a newspaper coined the name for Santa Cruz in the 1920s.

Officials from Santa Cruz also supported their claim by saying the area was the first to introduce surfing to mainland America in the 1880s after three Hawaiian princesses rode waves in the water.

California and North Carolina are not the only places with a Surf City.

New Jersey also has a borough with the name and a population close to 2,000 people. It was incorporated in 1984 as Long Beach City and renamed Surf City in 1999. Like the local Surf City, the New Jersey community is also a popular area for tourists on the eastern seaboard.

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According to a report from the Los Angeles Times published in the 1990s, the late Leonard T. Conners, former mayor of the Surf City in New Jersey, wrote a letter to the Huntington Beach mayor, which included information about contacting Douglas C. Medlin, current mayor of Surf City in North Carolina, in regards to community opposition to the California city having exclusive rights.

"We wrote a letter objecting it because that beach have never been named Surf City," Medlin told the StarNews. "New Jersey and here were the only ones that ever really used the name for a city or a town."

According to Medlin, there were times when postal officials would get mail mixed up between the two towns.

"Everywhere the mail was coming from, they would look at it, and mistake it for Surf City, New Jersey," he said. "They would send it there and they would have to forwarded it down here. So, sometimes it would take a while to get a letter."

But Medlin said the name was something both towns didn't want to give up.

"They were trying to trademark it so they could use the name Surf City for their advertisement only," Medlin added about the city in Southern California. "I didn't like it, and the mayor in New Jersey didn't like it."

It was noted in the LA Times report that everything was in good humor at a certain point before Huntington Beach council voted to get a copyright.

"Bring your board and see you at the beach," Conners said to then-Huntington Beach Mayor Peter M. Green.

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Conners said the song was always a benefit when it came to promoting the New Jersey borough.

"There were people who came to Surf City because of that record and who I married as mayor," Conners told the LA Times. "There was one couple, the girl came from California and he was from New Jersey, and they came to Surf City to be married in Surf City. And they were married on the beach.”

Medlin lived in North Carolina's Surf City since 1950. He served on the council for more than 30 years. He was a teenager when the song was released.

"Everybody thought they were talking about here," Medlin said. "It was a popular song when Surf City was growing and getting started. People always known about the song."

He remembers the chart-topper being played at the pier and the game room when he was hanging out with friends.

"They would play that song over and over again," Medlin said.

Forging its own identity

Decades later and about 10 hours away, the Pender County tourism department is working to make sure its Surf City stands on its own by mentioning Topsail Beach or Topsail Island. Director Tammy Proctor said it's a way to avoid confusion with New Jersey.

It may also help people know the difference between the area and the one Jan & Dean crooned about in the 1960s.

"No, I have never used it," Proctor said.

But that doesn't mean Topsail Island can't have a song of its own.

Charlie Albertson, dubbed the "Singing NC Senator," wrote the song "18th Avenue" about the area, which also includes the towns of Topsail Beach and North Topsail Beach.

"He gave it to us to create a fun video," Proctor said. "We took a nostalgic look at the island knowing that bridge was going away."

Reporter Chase Jordan can be reached at cjjordan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: How did North Carolina's Surf City get its name? Hint: Not from the song