The Gray Man of Pawleys Island

Pawleys Island is a tiny community of about 100 people and they are not concerned about Trump's cuts to the National Weather Service. They've got the Gray Man to warn them about impending storms.

The community's own website says that it “offers a distinct mix of shabby chic homes and cottages.”

It sits on the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It's a bit of a stretch to call it an island, as it's only separated from the mainland by salt marshes and the Waccamaw River

Ten thousand years ago, Native Americans lived there. Rice plantations worked by slaves appeared in the area, followed by lumber companies. Northerners began building properties as places to escape the brutal winters.

Stores and restaurants followed and it remains a popular vacation spot for those looking for peace and quiet seeking “simple virtues and lack of pretense”—until the hurricane season that is.

The island has been clobbered frequently by ferocious storms. According to the Town of Pawleys Island, it's been visited by 89 tropical storms since the 1930s.

Some have just been side-swiping tempests but others have been direct hits, notably Hurricane Hazel (1954), Hurricane Gracie (1959), and Hurricane Hugo (1989).

That's when everybody appreciates the early warnings of the Gray Man.

Numerous people say they have seen a ghostly figure at Pawleys Island and that his appearance is seen as a warning that a hurricane is on its way.

Of course, like most respectable ghosts, he appears in vintage clothing, sometimes looking like a pirate, although there are no reports of him having a parrot on his shoulder.

Nevertheless, the figure is reckoned to be that of the anguished soul of a shipwrecked sailor and there is a plentiful supply of those in the area.

Another version of the Gray Man's origin also involves a tragedy. The story goes that in 1822 a sailor was hurrying to see his fiancée as a storm was approaching. He took a shortcut through marshes to be with his beloved but he didn't see the quicksand before it was too late.

The bereaved woman searched for him everywhere but all she saw was a gray ghost she believed to be him. The woman's father became concerned about his distraught daughter and decided to move his family inland. The following day a hurricane slammed into the island, killing many people.

Other stories say the ghost is that of George Pawley of the 18th century. He is referred to as “the original owner of the island,” although surely that distinction belongs to the Waccamaw and Winyah people who occupied the land for thousands of years before George Pawley turned up.

Although ghostly spectres usually put the heebie-jeebies up most people, the Gray Man of Pawleys Island is a benevolent phantom. His function is to save lives.

According to The Sun Times of Myrtle Beach, “A woman in 1954 claimed to see the Gray Man ahead of the infamous Hurricane Hazel hitting the area. She said not only was her house spared from the devastation, the beach towels she left on her balcony were still hanging up.”

Southern Living also gives the wraith good grades for helpfulness: “For superstitious locals, an appearance by the Gray Man is as good a sign as any that it's time to evacuate. It is said that those who heed his warnings will ride out the storm safely with their property undamaged.”

Now that Trump and Musk have eviscerated the National Weather Service, the Gray Man will be in great demand.

• The Atlantic hurricane season stretches from June 1 to November 30.
• The most recent sighting of the Gray Man was in September 2022, prior to the arrival of Hurricane Ian.
• The Pelican Inn on Pawleys Island was built in 1840 and it's said to be the home of several ghosts including the Gray Man. It also has the ghosts of two Boston Terriers in residence.
• Pawleys Island is always spelled without the possessive apostrophe.

• “The Gray Man Haunts the Shores of Pawleys Island.” Atlas Obscura, March 29, 2021.
• “Pawleys Island.” Lee G. Brockington, South Carolina Encyclopedia, August 22, 2022.
• “Who Was the Hurricane-Predicting Ghost of Pawleys Island?” Tyler Fleming, The Sun News, September 2, 2019
• “The Gray Man Is a South Carolina Ghost Said to Warn Locals Before Hurricanes.” Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, May 3, 2024.
• “The Gray Man of Pawleys Island: The Phantom Who Warns of Storms.” moonmausoleum.com, undated.
• “Haunted Pawleys Island.” Marissa Polascak, pawleysisland.com, February 18, 2022.