How The Weather Influenced The Birth Of The Shag

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On October 15, 1954, the third major hurricane to affect the East Coast that year made landfall over the South Carolina/North Carolina state line as a powerful Category 4 storm. 

North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina reported  peak  winds were estimated at 130 to 150 mph along the coast between Myrtle Beach and Cape Fear, North Carolina.  A storm surge of up to 18 ft inundated portions of the North and South Carolina coast. 

Its incredible winds, devastating surge and waves wiped out many coastal buildings along the North and South Carolina coast just days after the storm battered Haiti, killing up to 1,000 people there. 

The same morning Hurricane Hazel roared into Shag territory.  The wind was brutal, but the full moon tide was devastating.

Without exception, the old wooden pavilions that had been the venues of the Shag were blown down and carried away. Roberts Pavilion, in Ocean Drive, ( where the current O.D. Pavilion stands now, was cut in half.  Sonny's Pavilion (Cherry Grove, SC) was simply gone.  According to eye witnesses in Myrtle Beach, the only thing left of Spivey's Pavilion was a rusty water pipe sticking out of the ground.

In the minds of many Shag dancers, neither the beaches, nor the dance itself, was ever the same after that.  The connection between the kids and the beach pavilions had been almost mystical.  It had to do with the coming of age, rebellion, and the passing of innocence. In memory, they represented timelessness never-ending youth and vigor. "

Bo Bryan
Author of "Shag,
The Legendary Dance Of The South"