Pawleys Island is a picturesque barrier island that lies just off of Hwy. 17 at the southernmost end of the Grand Strand. It is accessible from the mainland via two causeways to the north and south. It is less than 3 miles long and graced by high sweeping sand dunes and abundant natural beauty.
Pawleys Island is named after George Pawley, who owned it during the American Colonial era. When disease causing mosquitos began to plague the area populations, he sold portions of the island to wealthy farmers who built summer homes here, as the cool ocean breezes kept the insects away then, as now. George Washington visited this area two years after he was elected president. During this time, Pawleys gained a reputation as a resort area, which it has retained ever since; it is one of the oldest on the East Coast. The All Saints Episcopal Church, Waccamaw, Cedar Grove Plantation Chapel, and Pawleys Island Historic District are all listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and twelve residences dating from the 1700s to the 1800s remain completely intact and preserved. The island even comes with its own ghost—The Gray Man— who is said to have walked the coastline for nearly 200 years, his presence a portent of hurricanes and other dangers.