This SC coastal store has been roping in visitors for more than a century with this item

Harry Woodbury is the remaining hammock weaver at the Original Hammock Shop.

His former partner retired earlier this summer, leaving him to continue making the cotton rope slings alone.

The 66-year-old maintains a consistent rhythm as he moves the spool wrapped with rope up and down and in and out, forming the crisscross pattern shape of a hammock which has long been associated with the beach and relaxation.

The shop’s Pawleys Island location is situated along the Hammock Coast, the name given to the stretch that sits between the Grand Strand in the Myrtle Beach area and Charleston.

And while South Carolina is not known for the invention of the hammock, the area of Georgetown County has embraced it, playing on a river boat captain’s development of the iconic, cream-colored, rope-tied slings which have been handmade in Pawleys Island for more than 130 years.

Woodbury has contributed to that history, marking 25 years with the company - the majority of it weaving the hammocks.

“This is a really unique craft and a unique area because it’s been here for so long,” General Manager Alora Baver said. “It’s just a rich history.”

How did it get started?

The Pawleys Island Hammock began with Joshua John “Cap’n Josh” Ward, who simply wanted a good night’s sleep during the sultry South Carolina summers, according to the company’s website.

By using some rope and wood, he fashioned the rope hammock, a hand-woven bed, two wooden spreader bars and a clew knot with a ring for hanging the hammocks.

And while the company has expanded its hammock offerings over the years, including the use of DuraCord, which is man-made industrial yarn, and different colors, the original cotton rope hammock is still made on site. The rope used is twisted together by hand before being used to make the hammock.

Once completed, it is then sent to the manufacturing plant in Greenville, North Carolina, where the hardware is added.

The hammocks are still sold in the original building that housed the family store where Ward sold his creation in 1938. The building was expanded in the 1970s, using wood from area rice plantations and ballasts from ships, Baver said.

It now sits among several shops spread out on the property, where thousands of visitors come each season. The Hammock Weavers building is separate from the store and is where customers can come and watch the hammocks being made by Woodbury.

Weaver keeps history alive

With his long white hair and beard, Woodbury looks like he could be a sea captain, or Santa.

The Christmas figure is one of many hats, which are literally hung on the wall behind his work space, that Woodbury plays at the company.

On this August day, Woodbury is playing teacher as he shows a young visitor how to make the hammock.

It takes Woodbury about an hour and a half to make one hammock using about 1,300 feet of rope. He usually gets about four or five done in a day.

And although he knows how to weave a hammock, Woodbury hasn’t tried to make his own. “I don’t even own one,” he said.

Woodbury grew up in Georgetown and still lives in the home he was raised in, not unlike many of the locals.

Many of the people who come back year after year either grew up in the area, or they’ve laid in the hammocks, Baver said.

Baver said it makes it special that the company can carry on the legacy that was started more than a century ago.