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Village of the Barefoot Trader

When I was a kid, there was a place in the woods called Village of the Barefoot Trader. We'd visit it every summer while we were at the beach. My Uncle Wood would pretend to see an alligator in the swamp, and you'd usually hear some idiot telling his family ten minutes later that there were 'gators over there. The magic shop was my favorite, and my grandfather bought the same wallet from the same man every summer. In my life I have missed only one summer at the beach.

They bulldozed the Village many years ago, and in its place built a golf community, where my parents now have a home. Today wildfires have destroyed 69 homes in the Barefoot area and destroyed 15,000 acres. Right now, it appears that they have the fire under control in the neighborhood, but shifting winds are making the fire difficult to contain. Please say a little prayer that our place remains unharmed!

This used to be a house in our neighborhood:


A view of the fire last night:


Photos from the Myrtle Beach Sun News website.
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JRichey said…
HI, I just stumbled upon your blog by accident while looking for pictures of old Myrtle Beach landmarks--We used to go to the Barefoot Trader too, and it was really small, and you could buy food for the alligators or fish (I can't remember what it was for), but the food came in an ice cream cone, and you bought it out of this gumball machine thing...
June 13, 2009 at 12:15 AM
Anonymous said…
Thanks for posting this. I came across it while I was looking for areas around the Sherwood Forest Campground that we used to haul our pop up camper to every year. The village was right across from the campground and we would walk over. My favorite was the magic shop also, I remember buying a tube of sticky stuff called "Smoke from your fingertips" it was really cool to a nine year old boy. Last time I was there a few years I was saddened by how much it's grown, I couldn't help thinking of the line, "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot" ahhh the progress of man. Thanks again for the memories.
July 16, 2009 at 10:50 AM
Chris Donevant-Haines said…
I found your blog when I searched the Village of the Barefoot Traders. I spent every summer at the beach until I moved here in 1995 (like so many others from WV do!) I visited the village every summer and fed the gators and rode the little wobbly train that ran around the perimeter of the property. My favorite shop was one where you could buy home-made peanut butter which was made right in the shop. I remember the sandy pathways and during every visit my sandals would be filled with sand and pinestraw. I tell almost everyone I know about the village and what Myrtle Beach was like in the early 70s and they always seem to enjoy that I can remember all of the little places. Thanks for sharing the memories and I hope that you were able to rebuild over the past year.
August 2, 2011 at 3:56 PM
Anonymous said…
I was one of the original developers of the Village of the Barefoot Traders that we imagined and built in 1971. I specifically owned the quasi-hippy clothing store called, Rag-Mama-Rag, a fun place to have a business in those days. Too bad for me I sold out my interests before it became BIG Time.
August 21, 2012 at 9:16 PM
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