Every Story Has A Beginning, This Is Ours | A Family Legacy

If you have been following our social media channels since July 2nd, then you are aware of “A Family Legacy | An Ocean Lakes Docuseries.” A docuseries dedicated to telling the story of Ocean Lakes and our founding family. Two episodes have been released with more to come in the near future. 

Episode 2: Growing The Land premiered last week, which detailed the events that began the wonderful story that is Ocean Lakes. Well, in this week’s blog, we are going even further.

Picture it… Myrtle Beach… Early 1900’s… (Like my Golden Girls reference?) 

Back To The Beginning | Our story begins with Vivian Francis and Mary Dusenbury Platt. They met in 1913 in Myrtle Beach, SC when Mary saved Vivian from drowning in the ocean by pulling him out by his hair. After his rescue, they dated, they married, then they had two children and established their home in Conway, SC. Their two children were named Mary Emily and Vivian Francis, Jr. 

Mary Dusenbarry Platt, Vivian Francis Platt, Mary Emily Platt Jackson, and Vivian Francis Platt, Jr.

Mary Emily's Parents, Vivian Francis Platt and Mary Dusenbarry Platt

The Ultimate Swap | Once Dr. Platt began buying land, he would swap property, timber the land, and then acquire more land. He continued this until he had accumulated around 7,000 acres of land.

Newspaper Article of Dr. Platt's Land Purchase

Dr. Platt was interested in the oceanfront property in which Ocean Lakes is located today, so whenever he had time off, the family would drive over to the beach. He first bought property in Murrells Inlet since his father had a place down there. He thought he would develop that land. However, he found out how costly it was to put in the roads and the sewer lines. Instead of developing that land, he had an opportunity to swap that land with the man who owned this oceanfront property. 

In 1930, he acquired 1,000 acres with nearly a mile of oceanfront. It was heavily wooded and a great place to hunt deer, wild turkey, and ducks. There were three lakes near the ocean for fishing and three log houses along with a mineral spring for medicinal purposes.

Lakewood Beach Estate

Now That’s What I Call High Quality H2O | The family discovered that the mineral spring on the property had a very good composition of ingredients. He sent the water off to Raleigh, North Carolina for testing to confirm that it was comprised of medicinal quality. Then Mary Emily’s father decided he would sell that water. He set up an operation to sell one- and five-gallon jugs of the water. This was called Platt’s Mineral Spring Water.

Platt's Mineral Spring Water Test Results

Platt's Mineral Spring Water Label

On The Hunt | Dr. Platt was mainly interested in hunting and had a hunting club that would meet every week during the hunting season. They would come back in and have their hunt for breakfast. They would hunt deer, wild turkey, and ducks, and they would also feed the animals. There were lots of squirrels and birds, as well. The family would come in at night and see the deer in the fields eating and noted how beautiful they were each night.

Dr. Platt with Friends on a Hunt

The hunting cabin was designated for family and friends to camp. Even after Ocean Lakes opened, it was used for campground activities until it was destroyed by a fire. 

The Famous Log Cabin

Name That Lake | Locals may know Highway 544 as Dick Pond Road. In the 1900’s, people would fish in Dick Pond. Dick Pond lives on today and is located inside Ocean Lakes! Dick Pond is now known as Lake Magnolia and guests love fishing from the lake.

Jackson Daughters, Kaki and Rachel, on Dick Pond in August of 1962

Map of Lakewood Plantation, including Dick Pond

Fun Facts | Tobacco, corn, beans, and other vegetables were grown on the land; however, tobacco was the main crop. When they would take the tobacco into Conway to sell at the tobacco warehouses, the owner of the tobacco warehouses would ask, 

“Where was this tobacco grown? He would reply, “It was grown so close to the ocean that the mules would get their feet wet at the end of the rope.”

During WWII, Dr. Platt realized that he could lease land to the government and hold on to the title. The government made a deal with Dr. Platt for 2,000 acres that became a part of the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. The United States Senate and the House passed a law that surplus property would go to another government entity, state, city, or county. Due to the law, the land used by the government never came back to the Platt family. Due to the war, there were targets set up on the sand dunes along the beach for the airplanes to practice firing. Because of this, much of the land east of Highway 17 could not be sold for timber due to the metal breaking the saws. 

The Battle For Land | Okay, not an actual battle, but it did get your attention. After the passing of Mary Emily’s parents in 1960, it took ten years for Mary Emily and her brother, Vivian Francis, Jr. to settle the estate. By 1970, Mary Emily had inherited 2,300 acres of land and was struggling to pay the taxes. The Jacksons borrowed 1.7 million dollars from the Federal Land Bank with more than half of the money going towards inheritance taxes. However, they knew they had to make it work or sell the land. 

Mary Emily and her Brother, Vivian Francis, Jr.

Connecting The Dots | All of this land was originally owned by Mary Emily Jackson’s parents, and was called Lakewood Plantation. After Dr. Platt’s passing, Mary Emily's brother decided to sell a portion of the land to Carl Perry. Carl Perry is the patriarch of the Perry Family, which owns and operates Lakewood Camping Resort. Mr. Perry named the campground after the original plantation, Lakewood. 

The Entrance to Lakewood Plantation

After the estate was settled in 1970, Vivian sold the majority of his land; however, Nelson and Mary Emily did not want to sell their portion of the land. Nelson Jackson often explained, 

“We could do a lot of things with 310 oceanfront acres in Myrtle Beach, and we’ve had many lucrative offers, but we believe that everyone – the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker – should have the privilege of enjoying God’s beautiful ocean.” Since the campground is oceanfront and there are lakes on the property, the family decided to combine the best of both worlds and name the campground Ocean Lakes Family Campground."

Little did they know, their experience on a bus in the 1950’s would set the course of the land.

Nelson and Mary Emily with their Five Jackson Daughters on the Motorhome Bus

Oh, The Irony | One of the Jackson Daughters, Kaki, reminisced on her and one of her sister’s first jobs: 

“We had a lot of fun, but then Mom also got us to work while we were here. My first job when I was 14 years old was at Lakewood Camping Resort. Laura also worked in Lakewood’s Main Office.”

This was before Ocean Lakes opened, of course. The Jackson daughters had quite a bit of camping experience. After all, their father was one of the first 50 individuals in the United States to own a Trailways Motorhome Bus. 

Newspaper Article of Mr. Jackson Converting Bus

Until Next Time | To learn more, purchase the Family Legacy book, which is sold for $8 in the Main Office Gift Shop, the Nature Center, and Sandy Mart. 

Ocean Lakes: A Family Legacy

Be sure to follow our social media pages for the release of each episode in our docuseries. There is still much of this story to tell!