P. Nicole King
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617032516
- eISBN:
- 9781617032523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617032516.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter analyzes Atlantic Beach’s shift, after the desegregation of leisure culture in the South, from a theme of unity to one of individual expression. Atlantic Beach demonstrates how African ...
More
This chapter analyzes Atlantic Beach’s shift, after the desegregation of leisure culture in the South, from a theme of unity to one of individual expression. Atlantic Beach demonstrates how African Americans in the South persevered and built physical as well as psychological communities during the era of segregation. It is a testament to the challenges of maintaining that sense of place and community even as desegregation offered wider access and mobility.Less
This chapter analyzes Atlantic Beach’s shift, after the desegregation of leisure culture in the South, from a theme of unity to one of individual expression. Atlantic Beach demonstrates how African Americans in the South persevered and built physical as well as psychological communities during the era of segregation. It is a testament to the challenges of maintaining that sense of place and community even as desegregation offered wider access and mobility.
P. Nicole King
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617032516
- eISBN:
- 9781617032523
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617032516.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
In 1949, Alan Schafer opened South of the Border, a beer stand located on bucolic farmland in Dillon County, South Carolina, near the border separating North and South Carolina. Even at its ...
More
In 1949, Alan Schafer opened South of the Border, a beer stand located on bucolic farmland in Dillon County, South Carolina, near the border separating North and South Carolina. Even at its beginning, the stand catered to those interested in Mexican-themed kitsch—sombreros, toy piñatas, vividly colored panchos, salsas. Within five years, the beer stand had grown into a restaurant, then a series of restaurants, and then a theme park, complete with gas stations, motels, a miniature golf course, and an adult-video shop. Flashy billboards—featuring South of the Border’s stereotypical bandit Pedro—advertised the locale from 175 miles away. An hour south of Schafer’s site lies the Grand Strand region—sixty miles of South Carolina beaches and various forms of recreation. Within this region, Atlantic Beach exists. From the 1940s onward, Atlantic Beach has been a primary tourist destination for middle-class African Americans, as it was one of the few recreational beaches open to them in the region. Since the 1990s, the beach has been home to the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, a motorcycle festival event that draws upward of 10,000 African Americans and other tourists annually. This book studies both locales, separately and together, to illustrate how they serve as lens for viewing the historical, social, and aesthetic aspects embedded in a place’s culture over time. In doing so, the book engages with concepts of the “Newer South,” the contemporary era of southern culture.Less
In 1949, Alan Schafer opened South of the Border, a beer stand located on bucolic farmland in Dillon County, South Carolina, near the border separating North and South Carolina. Even at its beginning, the stand catered to those interested in Mexican-themed kitsch—sombreros, toy piñatas, vividly colored panchos, salsas. Within five years, the beer stand had grown into a restaurant, then a series of restaurants, and then a theme park, complete with gas stations, motels, a miniature golf course, and an adult-video shop. Flashy billboards—featuring South of the Border’s stereotypical bandit Pedro—advertised the locale from 175 miles away. An hour south of Schafer’s site lies the Grand Strand region—sixty miles of South Carolina beaches and various forms of recreation. Within this region, Atlantic Beach exists. From the 1940s onward, Atlantic Beach has been a primary tourist destination for middle-class African Americans, as it was one of the few recreational beaches open to them in the region. Since the 1990s, the beach has been home to the Atlantic Beach Bikefest, a motorcycle festival event that draws upward of 10,000 African Americans and other tourists annually. This book studies both locales, separately and together, to illustrate how they serve as lens for viewing the historical, social, and aesthetic aspects embedded in a place’s culture over time. In doing so, the book engages with concepts of the “Newer South,” the contemporary era of southern culture.
P. Nicole King
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617032516
- eISBN:
- 9781617032523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617032516.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This introductory chapter first sets out the book's purpose, which is to examine the deep connections between two vastly different tourist sites in South Carolina—the South of the Border complex and ...
More
This introductory chapter first sets out the book's purpose, which is to examine the deep connections between two vastly different tourist sites in South Carolina—the South of the Border complex and the historically black town of Atlantic Beach. The book explores the interplay between politics, aesthetics, and the power of recreational tourism in the US South by analyzing specific people, places, and stories in South Carolina that illustrate larger cultural trends. The chapter then describes South of the Border and Atlantic Beach attractions; provides an overview of the present study; and discusses the development of the concept of the touriscape.Less
This introductory chapter first sets out the book's purpose, which is to examine the deep connections between two vastly different tourist sites in South Carolina—the South of the Border complex and the historically black town of Atlantic Beach. The book explores the interplay between politics, aesthetics, and the power of recreational tourism in the US South by analyzing specific people, places, and stories in South Carolina that illustrate larger cultural trends. The chapter then describes South of the Border and Atlantic Beach attractions; provides an overview of the present study; and discusses the development of the concept of the touriscape.
P. Nicole King
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781617032516
- eISBN:
- 9781617032523
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781617032516.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Social History
This chapter examines the ways in which South of the Border and Atlantic Beach may be preserved for future generations while remaining relevant sites of commerce and living history. The cultural ...
More
This chapter examines the ways in which South of the Border and Atlantic Beach may be preserved for future generations while remaining relevant sites of commerce and living history. The cultural histories of these landscapes broaden the conception of what southern tourism was and is about. But the most exciting aspect of this story concerns how younger generations are refashioning these places, which maintain their relevance even as they are transformed into something new.Less
This chapter examines the ways in which South of the Border and Atlantic Beach may be preserved for future generations while remaining relevant sites of commerce and living history. The cultural histories of these landscapes broaden the conception of what southern tourism was and is about. But the most exciting aspect of this story concerns how younger generations are refashioning these places, which maintain their relevance even as they are transformed into something new.
