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photography by Chris Smith story by Eileen Robinson Smith


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ILLY SWAILS IS THE TOP ELECTED OFFICIAL IN South Carolina’s fourth largest municipality, a


vibrant and growing town that has attracted a wide range of cultural and culinary events and festivals, as well as the attention of the National Civic League and its coveted designation of All-America City. Swails, mayor of Mount Pleasant since winning a three-man race among a trio of sitting town council- men in 2009, is neither overwhelmed with the job nor overly impressed by his own importance. “Don’t call me ‘Mr. Mayor.’ My name is Billy,” he insisted in a smooth Southern drawl perfected by a lifetime in the town he now helps run. His Lowcountry origins are depicted in the hunting and fishing prints that adorn his office at City Hall. At 64, Swails has fond memories of the


town he will always call home, which, a half century ago, was no more than a dot on the map, a brief rest stop for motorists headed north to Myrtle Beach or south to Charleston and beyond. “In 1960, there was one red light on


Highway 17, which was called Ocean Highway,” he remembered. “Tourists stopped here, mainly to gas up on the way to Myrtle Beach and the land of oranges. I pumped gas. Te Colonial Store [then on the corner of Coleman Boulevard and Fairmont Avenue in the current GDC Home Interiors location] was the largest grocery store. I bagged groceries and at night swept and mopped the floor. I was never scared of hard work.”


TO ALL-AMERICA MAYOR www.MountPleasantMagazine.com 7


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