Conway, South Carolina

Conway is a city in and the county seat of Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 24,849 at the 2020 census, making it the 18th-most populous city in the state. The city is part of the Myrtle Beach Metro Area. It is the home of Coastal Carolina University.

Numerous buildings and structures located in Conway are on the National Register of Historic Places. Among these is the City Hall building, designed by Robert Mills, architect of the Washington Monument. Since the completion of the Main Street USA project in the 1980s, Conway's downtown has been revitalized with shops and bistros. Highlighting the renovation of the downtown area is the Riverwalk, an area of restaurants which follows a stretch of the Waccamaw River that winds through Conway.

History

Conway is one of the oldest towns in South Carolina. Early English colonists named the village "Kings Town" but soon changed it to "Kingston". The town was founded in 1732 as part of Royal Governor Robert Johnson's Township Scheme. It was laid out on a bluff overlooking the Waccamaw River in what is now known as Horry County.

For three decades, from the 1730s to the 1750s, King George II was very popular in the area. The King's birthday was one of the most widely celebrated holidays during that time. However, his successor King George III quickly grew unpopular with the townspeople. By the 1770s, the region of South Carolina in which Kingston was located was overwhelmingly English, though there were also small numbers of Huguenots and Scots-Irish people. English-Americans in Kingston were very sympathetic to rebels in Charleston over the issue of taxation without representation. When the Royal Governor Lord William Campbell fled Charleston, the people of Kingston celebrated.

Many area residents fought in the American Revolution, and small engagements were fought near Kingston at Bear Bluff and at Black Lake. Francis Marion, who was known as the "Swamp Fox", had an encampment near Kingston just across the Waccamaw River. The areas of Kingston and Charles Town were communities with a higher population of Tories than many other Colonial American towns during the Revolutionary War era.

Horry County was created in 1801, and its courthouse was established in Kingston. The name "Kingston" was later changed to "Conwayborough", to honor local hero General Robert Conway. In 1883, the South Carolina General Assembly changed the name of the town to "Conway".

Geography

Conway is situated on the South Carolina Coastal Plain on the western banks of the Waccamaw River, and is approximately from the Atlantic Ocean. U.S. Route 701, U.S. Route 501, and U.S. Route 378 pass through Conway.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (3.54%) is water.

Demographics

2020 census

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census

The median age was 30.4 years. 16.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 83.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 80.1 males age 18 and over.

There were 8,277 households in Conway, of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 41.2% were married-couple households, 17.0% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 34.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Arts and culture

thumb|right|Former railroad station

Conway is the home of Kimbel Library and the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery at Coastal Carolina University. The gallery houses differing exhibits throughout the year.

Sports

HTC Center is a 3,370-seat multi-purpose arena located on the campus of Coastal Carolina University in Conway. It is home to the university's men's and women's basketball teams, and the women's volleyball teams. It replaced Kimbel Arena for this purpose.

Government

thumb|City Hall

The city is run by an elected mayor-council government system with one mayor and 6 council members. The current mayor is Barbara Blain who was first sworn in on January 4, 2016 and re-elected on January 6, 2020. The 6 council members are Amanda Butler, Julie Hardwick, Beth Helms, William Goldfinch IV, Justin Jordan, and Larry White. Council members are elected at large and serve staggered four year terms. Each member, including the mayor, has one vote in city matters. Council members meet twice a month; on the first and third Monday at 4:00 p.m. at Conway Council Chambers.

Media

The Chanticleer News (the student newspaper of Coastal Carolina University)
Rivertown Radio
Horry Independent

Infrastructure

Transportation

thumb|Trains in front of the Conway water tower

Air

Conway is home to the Conway–Horry County Airport (HYW), a small airport located west of town, along US 378.

Bus

A large part of Horry County is served by the Coast Regional Transit Authority (RTA), formerly known as the Waccamaw Regional Transit Authority and as Lymo. The primary station and offices are located in downtown Conway, near the historic district.

Railroads

R. J. Corman Railroad's Carolina Line is a short-line railroad which serves parts of North and South Carolina. Conway is located on the railroad's Chadbourn, NC–Myrtle Beach, SC branch. The historic Conway railroad depot is located along this branch, although the depot is now an office building.

Notable people

Bryant Barnhill, racing driver
Scott Bessent, investor, hedge fund manager and 79th United States Secretary of the Treasury
Bryan Edwards, American football player
William Gibson, author, credited as the father of the cyberpunk genre of science fiction
Junior Hemingway, former Michigan Wolverines wide receiver
Tonka Hemingway, South Carolina Gamecocks defensive tackle
Grant Holmes, professional baseball pitcher
Edgar L. McGowan, former commissioner of the South Carolina Department of Labor
Kristy McPherson, golfer on the LPGA Tour
Allen Patrick, Oklahoma Sooners running back and NFL player
Hunter Renfrow, American football player
Sheri Reynolds, author and associate professor of Southern literature at Old Dominion University
Nick Shalosky, first openly gay elected official in South Carolina
Margot Stilley, actress and writer
Duley Trucc, musical artist