Known as the Black Pearl, Atlantic Beach is one of the few Black-owned beaches that remain in the U.S. For more than three decades, this town spanning just four blocks was a bustling vacation spot for Black beach-goers living in the segregated South. In the early 1930s, Black entrepreneurs and families ran hotels, restaurants, and shops here. But while the town boomed in the 1940s and ’50s, it declined after segregation as Black tourists left to explore other vacation spots. These days, residents—many who are descendants of the Gullah Geechee, former enslaved people from the west coast of Africa—are working to preserve the town’s history. You can visit historic sites in the area, mostly at nearby Myrtle Beach.

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