FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) – Folly Beach has officially opened its long-awaited history museum, a project dedicated to preserving the city’s rich culture, heritage, and history. The museum celebrated its grand opening on Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, marking the culmination of over a decade of planning, artifact collection, and community involvement.
The mission of the new museum is to showcase the unique history of Folly Beach, focusing on key themes such as war, pirates, surfing, and tourism throughout the years. Regina Anderson, chairman of the Folly Beach Historical Society, emphasized the museum’s importance as a resource for both residents and visitors, offering a deeper understanding of the area’s past.
“It’s not just a vacation spot, and even for the residents, it’s not just their memories,” Anderson said. “Every generation has different memories of how special Folly Beach is, and I think it’s important to understand how other people see history and how they experience the same place.”
The museum’s inaugural exhibit, “Surfing on the Edge,” explores the origins of surf culture at Folly Beach, tracing the history of surfing from the early 1960s to the current charitable organizations that have emerged from this culture. Richard Beck, former mayor of Folly Beach and board member of the Folly Beach Historical Society, emphasized the significance of surfing to the identity of the community.
“You can’t separate surfing from the character of Folly Beach,” Beck said. “There are hundreds of people that are surfing and have stories to tell, so we hope to be able to include as many as would like to have their stories included.”
Future exhibits will dive into the city’s role in the American Revolution, Civil War, and World War II, the history of the Folly Beach pier, the impact of hurricanes, and the area’s history with pirates and criminals. The museum will feature rotating exhibits, providing fresh perspectives and contributions from the local community.
The grand opening also featured a series of engaging panel discussions, including one on the pioneers of surfing in the Folly Beach area, another on the 1976 civil rights lawsuit against the city, and a discussion about the various organizations that have grown out of surf culture. The panel on surfing featured longtime locals such as Foster Folsum, Nanci Polk-Weckhorst, Dewey Mauldin, and Jack Tripp, who shared personal stories about the evolution of surfing on Folly Beach. Polk-Weckhorst, in particular, recalled how she started surfing with her mother’s ironing board, later going on to become a competitive surfer and a Hall of Fame inductee.
The new museum is housed at 55 Center Street in the community center and library building, strategically located so that it’s one of the first things visitors see when crossing the bridge into Folly Beach. This addition is a significant step in preserving the rich history of this coastal community for future generations.
