Thursday, February 15, 2018

South Carolina Places~The South Carolina Room at Chapin Memorial Library


South Carolina is beautiful and full of history. 
This series highlights places around the state where you can go to learn, experience and research.

The Shirley Walker Boone South Carolina Room at the Chapin Memorial Library is a resource for those researching in Horry County and other places in the state or those nearby.

Located at 400 14th Ave North in Myrtle Beach, it is open each day except Sunday at 9am.
Closing times vary throughout the week so check the website or call 843-918-1275 before you plan a visit.


Chapin Memorial Library
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina






On the second floor of the library, the room provides access to many books on the county and state, maps and a microfilm machine for viewing census records. There are videos to watch containing oral histories of Horry County and a set of CD sets of records from South Carolina and neighboring states.
There are tables and chairs to spread out your research and sit and read as you discover information on your ancestors. 





Outside the room, there are shelves with genealogy periodicals from local, state and national genealogical societies. Magazines and genealogy how-to books are also available.

Chapin Library also has subscriptions to several genealogy sites such as Ancestry and My Heritage. In order to access these, you must have a Chapin Library card. There are several public computers available near the research room.


Over the last few years, the staff has begun a digitization program featuring obituaries from Horry County newspapers, and other items from the county's history. 

This is an ongoing project and can be found by searching the library's online catalog. Just drill down to "Digitized Collection"  on the search page.

You can also find a booklet called "Beginning Genealogy" to help get you started on your genealogy journey. This booklet was produced and continues to be updated by The Grand Strand Genealogy Club which meets at the library on the second Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. The club is free and all are welcome to attend.


Have you utilized the resources in the Shirley Walker Boone South Carolina Room at Chapin Memorial Library? What discoveries did you make?

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping your climb your famly tree,





6 comments:

  1. Cheri, this looks like a pleasant facility to research & learn. Would you suggest going to the county where we know our ancestors lived or to a state level repository to begin SC research?

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    1. Colleen, many counties have sent their original court and land records to the State Archives. The archives has a website with some digitized records and a catalogue of their holdings. It is always a good idea to check with the specific county as well. They may have collections not available at the state level, of they may have not sent them there. Which county do you need records from?

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    2. I believe all of those have sent their originals to the State Archives in Columbia.

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    3. You are very welcome. Let me know if there's something I can do to help you.

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