Murrells Inlet Historic District

Murrells Inlet Historic District is a waterfront area in South Carolina containing 37 buildings spread across about 585 acres of coastal land with marshes and moss-covered trees. The district centers around an eastern creek and combines older plantation-era houses with early twentieth-century resort buildings.

The district began in the nineteenth century when two plantation owners, Jacob Motte Alston and Dr. Allard Belin Flagg, established estates in this area. Over time the location shifted from an agricultural center into a resort community.

Two antebellum houses feature Greek Revival details, while early twentieth-century buildings showcase large screened porches typical of resort architecture. This mix of styles shows how the place transformed from a plantation area into a vacation destination.

The district sits near U.S. Highway 17 and is easy to reach, though most buildings are privately owned with limited public access. Visitors should plan to view the area mainly from the outside and respect private property boundaries.

The buildings face the eastern creek and marshes, showing how water shaped the economic development of the inlet. This water connection influenced both the architecture and how the settlement grew over time.