Read an extensive history article and restoration news here
Morris Island Lighthouse is located at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. The original Lighthouse it was built in 1767 and was one of only two lighthouses found south of the Delaware Bay by the end of the Revolution. The original tower was destroyed during the Civil War. Morris Island was a very strategically located island, near enough to Fort Sumter that a continuous bombardment was delivered from there for almost 4 years during the war. After the war a new tower was built about 400 yards from the old site. This tower stood 161 feet high and had a first order lens. The keeper's dwelling and all the support buildings are gone as well as the rest of the island, claimed by erosion. The tower itself is now surrounded by water 30 feet deep.
Construction began on the Charleston Harbor jetties in 1878, taking 17 years to complete. Though unintended, the design of the jetties resulted in the rapid erosion of Morris Island averaging 25 feet of loss per year. By the early 1940s, the ocean had severed the lighthouse from the rest of Morris Island, and the caretaker's house was removed. A decade later, the lighthouse was stranded in the sea.
Currently efforts are being made by private citizens, the State of South Carolina and Save The Light Inc. to preserve this treasure. Please visit their website for the latest information.
This lighthouse has survived earthquakes and fires and the force of giant hurricanes. Once it was slated for demolition to acquire it's bricks for sale. With a little luck, there is a good chance now that it will survive a bit longer due to the efforts of people that love lighthouse.
Whaley
Construction Company built the Harbour Town lighthouse on Hilton Head in
1969-1970. Its light flashes
across Calibogue Sound every night, a beacon for Hilton Head's sailors,
visitors and fishermen.
It’s
basically a tourist attraction that works as a three-dimensional sign
promoting Hilton Head and to commemorate The Heritage Golf Classic Tournament,
now called the MCI Heritage. Although
it is a working aid to navigation, the Coast Guard doesn’t maintain it and
officially it’s not listed as a lighthouse.
Purists call it a facsimile lighthouse.
But the idea of the lighthouse has worked and it has become a prominent
identification tool for not only the Hilton Head area but for the Low Country
of South Carolina in general.
It
costs a few bucks to get on to the part of the island where the lighthouse is
located, and there are many restrictions imposed upon visitors.
The whole island is designed to service the privileged few. It’s a
little too sterile and expensive for most people, frequently being called the
“Worlds Largest Snobatorium” but the grounds are very well kept and the
place is beautiful.
The
lighthouse is open daily and there’s no charge to walk the one hundred and
ten stairs to the top. The view
from the ninety-three foot tower is spectacular. You can see Calibogue Sound,
as well as Daufuskie Island. Directly
below the lighthouse is a nice view of the small harbor and the Harbour Town
Golf Course that is part of the Sea Pines Plantation development.
Across the way is Harbour Town's famed Liberty Oak, an ancient tree
preserved with some effort by Charles Fraser during the construction of
Harbour Town. Beyond the Liberty
Oak is the 18th hole of the Harbour Town Golf Links. When you get to the top
you’ll find a gift shop full of typical souvenirs.
The
Harbour Town lighthouse was designed by Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay Association
Inc., and built 1969-1970 as part of the Harbour Town resort.
Constructed by Englishmen William and John Whalley, the lighthouse was
the first to be built on the Atlantic coast since the 1820s, and it is the
only privately built lighthouse on the east coast of the US.
From
the concrete base to the roof peak it stands 93 feet.
The lighthouse design is a hexagonal motif, which is apparent by
looking at the top the structure. The foundation of the structure is eight
feet deep supported by soil below. The mainframe of the structure is also
hexagonal and made of metal lath supplemented by wood furring strips, plywood
sheathing and stucco.
In
February 1993, the lighthouse received a facelift.
NewTech Inc. of Hilton Head worked with HEK platforms & Hoist Inc.
of Acworth, Ga., to repaint the famous lighthouse
The
Harbour Town lighthouse has a sister structure in Lancashire, England.
Now 100 years old, the Darwen Tower was built in honor of Queen
Victoria, who celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
It is indelibly linked to the Harbour Town lighthouse by the Whalley
family. The Whalley brothers'
grandfather, Richard James Whalley, built Darwen Tower, and 15 years later
immigrated to the United States and then Savannah opening his own company,
Whalley Construction, which subsequently built Harbour Town's famous tower.