Myrtle Beach Ocean Forest Hotel 1930 - 1974

[dvikib]

Thank you so much for posting this video. I still have a postcard of the Ocean Forest Hotel sent to me by my parents in Sep 1950 when I was 4 years old. They said this was their very favorite hotel and they would take me to it sometime. Sadly, I never made it there myself. They passed away before it was demolished.

[CDHaines]

In 1974 I was 7 and we went to the hotel and we were allowed to tour it as the items were being sold. My most vivid memory is going into the huge kitchen where the mixers and hundreds of metal mixing bowls were just lying around. We walked through the halls and I was amazed to see how small the rooms were. All of the chandeliers and lights were sitting on the floors of the hallways. On the row of little shops that were dilapidated and the pool was full of brown water. It was sad to see.

[3932124]

My twin brother and I stayed at the hotel in the late 50's. with my parents and grandmother and grandfather. My father told me the hotel sold for a $1.00 one time when it went into forecloser.

[Crownsford]

There was a maze of little shops under the hotel. By the 70's only a few were still open, but I imagine in the hotel's heyday they sold some fine clothing, jewelry & other goods. The hotel was red brick at that time, so its interesting to me to see the building was once white. It was a shame it was torn down, but maybe there wasn't a buyer willing to foot the bill to renovate. I seem to remember a copper dome & looking at the photos, it appears there were 2 domes on flanking ends.

[Cathooker2]

@Crownsford Thank you for taking the time to share your memories of the Ocean Forest Hotel with us. I have some forks and spoons with the name on them and a piece of the Bohemian crystal chandelier. It was made in Czechoslovakia by the way.

[Crownsford]

I visited in the 60's, 70's - she was a grand dame grown a bit shabby. My family attended a sale of hotel goods before the closing, picking up mementos. I still have a set of rimmed soup bowls & an item that cuts an entire pie into slices! Best memory?- the high panoramic view from the open parthenon-like structure facing the ocean. I gazed thru fat white columns & balustrade rails onto glinting waves & bright blue skies, smelled salty air on warm breezes, & thought her loss was totally tragic.

[stellablue2111]

needless to say.. she quit because she was so freaked out.. Me ? I though he was just a nice old man lol... Was the summer after this that it was demolished.. I have always thought it was a shame to destroy such a beautiful place for more condos.. Yep.. We seem to have a shortage of them around here... Alright.. Sorry for the rambling 3 part post ! :)

[Cathooker2]

@stellablue2111 Thanks for your story.

[stellablue2111]

He took me on the elevator and up a floor or two.. Told me about "famous people" that had stayed there & performed in the ball room... My mom came looking for me and freaked out when when found me.. I was alone and was she wanting to know how the heck I got there.. (I could not have operated the elevator) .. Come to find out, a man had died sitting on the elevator shaft ledge and he would roam the hotel, and operate the elevator .. It would come down and open with no one there..

[stellablue2111]

I remember the Ocean Forest.. I am only 42 but my mom worked there for a little over a year, when I was a toddler.. I must have been about 4, it was the winter, the season being over, everything would close up.. She was doing the accounting and I would go with her to work.. We were pretty much the only ones in the whole place, except for a ghost. At the age of 4 I had no idea what a ghost was, so I was not scared, and thought he was a friendly man that worked there.

[mizadorable2002]

Someone told me of this hotel when I was around 10 years old. They told me their home was part of this hotel and it was somehow moved to its current location when it was demolished. I don't know if there is any truth to it, but it seemed a bit odd to me and for some reason I thought about it this morning. I started researching and found the information you've posted here. I'm trying to find any truth to that story... This is all pretty interesting for a history lover like me.

[brawny0929]

Thanks for the memory!! I played organ and piano in the lower level lounge for the summer season of 1972. Turned into a short gig and I went over to the new Ocean Dunes hotel on north beach!

[Cathooker2]

@brawny0929 Thanks for sharing

[turnertrading]

I stayed here around 1970 with my parents, I was a child only 7-8 yeard old. Even in it's final years, this was a grand old motel. I could not really remember the name until I ran across it on another website. A google search led me here. I remember returning after it was torn down and we stayed a few blocks north

[Cathooker2]

@turnertrading Thanks for taking the time to respond about your memories of the Ocean Forest Hotel.

[maimou]

What a beautiful hotel! How could they demolish such a gem? My grandmother's house is one block from there and every time I drive around the traffic circle I lament at what once was (even though I never saw the original structure nor was I even born at the time it was torn down). Tearing down that structure to build those "modern" but ugly villas was and still is a crime!  This phenomenon has occurred in other parts of the world unfortunately. Tearing down to make way for modernity! Shame!

[jillclary425]

I visited the Ocean Forest shortly before it was torn down, probably in 1973. To my then 13 year old eyes, which were enamoured of the high rise hotels and gaudy lights of downtown Myrtle Beach, the hotel was run down. However, from my middle aged perspective now, I wish I had paid more attention to my surroundings. It's a shame that places like this were demolished and in the name of what - progress?!

[Gayle4479]

I remember in about 1957, my Mom and Aunt stayed for a week at the Ocean Forest Hotel. Was their gift from the husbands to get away from the kids for a nice week. I remember when we picked her up, the hotel was just so magnificant! I am in CA now and am just sick the hotel was torn down. What a travesty! And for condos or villas?

[janiceatbeverlyhanks]

We were members of the Pine Lakes Country Club. I have many stories about our summers there.

[janiceatbeverlyhanks]

I grow up about a block away from the Ocean Forest Hotel. I use to walk through the open lower area to go to the beach. The block house across the street where the employees lived in the summer months is now area of homes. It is very strange to go back and visit and not see the hotel. It was an amazing.

[Cathooker2]

@janiceatbeverlyhanks Thank you for commenting

Please tell us more about what went on for entertainment and who you saw there.

[janiceatbeverlyhanks]

@Cathooker2 My brothers, sister and I would walk from our home on the highway and cut through the breezeway in the hotel to get to the beach. I vaguely remember there being a dress shop and a place to get hamburgers and cokes. We would sometimes ride the elevators or try to sneak into the pool. We would have to pass the "Block House" an octagon shaped building where the hotel employees lived. To the left of the hotel was an empty field full of blackberry bushes, picked them for grandmother.

[Cathooker2]

@janiceatbeverlyhanks Thank you for your response I did not know about the Block House I will have to look for a photo of it.

[janiceatbeverlyhanks]

@Cathooker2 The "Block House" is the name that we kids gave it, I'm sure it was not the official name. The place always gave me the creeps so I tried to avoid it by walking on the other side of the street. It was not an architecturally appealing structure. The front had a big barn like opening where a car could be driven in to park. It was two or three stories high. There were oak trees all around the exterior. I don't remember anyone being there in the off season. There are houses there now.

[indigo9nightsky]

It is crying shame that this beautiful hotel and historical landmark was demolished. Myrtle Beach will never be the same. Sniff Sniff.

[mathmoma11]

My parents took be on vacations to the Ocean Forest in the late 50s and early 60s. It was an adventure for a child to stay in such a large and special place. One of my first crushes was on a parking valet. A preteen really felt quite grown eating in the big dining room and signing the bill after a meal with a friend. I was sad when they tore it down. Rumor was the demolition company said it was so well constructed it would have stood for a hundred more years.

I loved watching the video!

[Cathooker2]

Thank you for commenting.

[tubeace]

I was there the day it was imploded. I had driven my little brother to the Pavilion and saw police cars near the hotel. They did not publicize the implosion, allegedly because they thought protesters might show up. I did manage to steal a brick from the rubble.

My uncle said there used to be illegal gambling and drinking there.

[tabithathewitch2001]

Great stories everyone. I would loved to see the inside of the hotel. I wonder if there are pics out there of the inside

[norton8276]

My friends and I met Marvin Gaye there in the summer of 1967 when was staying at the hotel and performing at the Beach Club. We loved playing "Ain't No Mt. High Enough" on the jute box in the grill. I still have a signed picture "You are a Wonderful One", Love, Marvin. We were always staying next door at the Springmaid Villa.

[willajane1]

I was browsing through youTube and came upon the Ocean Forest Hotel and such memorise it brought back to me. We had our Junior/Senior Prom there in l955 and such a delightful place. Cherished memories from that evening.

WDB

[Cathooker2]

I was a Carolina Gal and Myrtle Beach was the place we used to go. I used to work at the Ocean Forest Hotel in the summers between school breaks. We used to have conventions there and I worked as a hostess. There were quite a few waiters and waitresses as well. It was a grand Hotel. It was sad when I went back and it was gone. The Tams, Temptations, and James Brown were all the rave. It was a great time in my life. PatB

[crossbow1978]

Went there as a teenager when the hotel was being sold piece by piece a few days before they tore it down. I roamed through all the beauty shops, barber shops, stores and night clubs. All empty-very spooky! I ran into an old man that had worked there in the beginning when the area was empty and the hotel would take guests duck hunting! The rooms had hot-cold fresh water, Hot-cold salt water baths and one faucet for ice water. Now that was class! Also had huge ball rooms and it's own post office.

[Cathooker2]

Thank you for commenting. I didn't know about the post office.

[rervinnc]

I recall walking thru some shops in the hotel with my grandparents in the early 50's. Think I was 6 years old. It stuck in my memory all those years.

[hedgehoghunter007]

wow

[thespianalb]

my grandmother stayed there a lot and told me obout it. i went oline and foud this! Thanks for posting

[Tarheelnative01]

Thank you. I spotted a picture of the Ocean Forest Hotel in an art gallery at Galleria. Did not know anything about it but was intrigued. Discovered that my condo at Forest Dunes is just south of the property.

It's a shame it wasn't restored.

[unc7480]

My uncle Carl's big band played there several summers in the '40's.

[MrCynic1]

Sad that the building that was destroyed looked so classic and was replaced with a chunk of steel and glass with no soul.

[TIMMBSC]

I walk where it once stood and can only dream about it.

[thewhedonverse]

FANTASTIC channel you have here...as an official Horry native (family had the motel, rental houses, the whole bit) I relate to all you have posted...bravo!

[Cathooker2]

Thank you for the comment.