An event showcasing one of the area's newest housing developments is helping support the study of the area's past.

The recent tour of the new Grande Dunes development, a 2,200-acre resort and residential community in Myrtle Beach developed by Burroughs and Chapin Company, Inc., raised a total of $7,645. Proceeds from the event, which was organized by Susan McMillan of Conway and Joanne Milnor of Murrells Inlet, were donated to Coastal Carolina University's Archaeology Endowment and to the Horry County Historical Society.

McMillan has been closely involved with many of Coastal's past archaeological endeavors, which were led for many years by former history professor and archaeologist Jim Michie. In the 1980s and early 1990s Michie led many successful archaeological excavations on the sites of several Georgetown County plantations including Richmond Hill, The Oaks, Arcadia and Mansfield.

The Archaeology Endowment at Coastal will help fund future archaeological programs in the area.