Burroughs and Chapin Revenue and Competitors

Burroughs & Chapin Company's involvement in Myrtle Beach began more than a century ago when in 1865, following his service in the Civil War, Franklin G. Burroughs (right) returned to the nearby inland city of Conway, South Carolina, to reestablish his successful turpentine and mercantile business. At that time he formed a partnership with Benjamin G. Collins, a native of nearby Georgetown County. The two men expanded the company's interests into timber, farm credit, consumer goods, riverboats and, eventually, began construction of the first railway through the forests of Horry County to the beaches of what are today Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand. It was Burroughs' vision that Myrtle Beach would grow to become one of the nation's premier vacation destinations. He died in 1897 before his efforts to link the beach via railroad to the rest of the world were completed. In pursuit of their father's dreams, Burroughs' and Collins' sons completed the railroad and, in 1901, built the Seaside Inn, the first oceanfront hotel in Myrtle Beach.