Morris Island Lighthouse | Charleston Harbor, South Carolina | Built c. 1762, 1838, 1876; Decommissioned in 1962
An imposing tower rises from the waters off the coast of Charleston, casting a ghostly shadow over the harbor it used to illuminate with its guiding light. That light has long been extinguished, leaving behind a shell of a structure with little purpose today. You wouldn’t know by looking at it today, but this lighthouse was once among the most crucial navigational aids on the eastern seaboard, dating back to its first construction in the 1760s. Through revolutions, changes in government, and two wars, a lighthouse steadfastly operated here, guiding countless ships of seafarers who followed its beacon into Charleston Harbor.
The tower you see today is the third one built on this site and while it is no longer active or accessible, its history is as important as any other site in Charleston, having been the witness to some of the most pivotal moments in American history that I have gathered in this article to share with you.
The First Lighthouse on Morris Island
The first settlement in Charleston was established in 1670 and by 1673, settlers made camp on what was eventually known as Morris Island. In 1762, King George III made orders for a lighthouse to be built here which was completed in 1767. This first lighthouse stood 42 feet tall and was an octagonal tower made of brick that was built and designed by Samuel Cardy (architect), Thomas Young (engineer), and Adam Miller (a bricklayer). When it was initially built, an estimated 800 ships were arriving in Charleston Harbor each year, guided by the light on Morris Island at the south entrance to the harbor. This lighthouse was one of only 10 pre-revolutionary lighthouses constructed in the colonies.
Morris Island light guided ships into Charleston Harbor until the Revolutionary War when it was destroyed in order to prevent the British from using it to navigate. Following the Revolution, the colonial light station at Morris Island was transferred into the care of the newly established Federal government in 1789. In 1800, Congress allocated funds for $5,000 to repair the lighthouse, and over the following decades, Morris Island became a critical point for maritime safety and navigation.
The Second Lighthouse on Morris Island
By the 1830s, the lighthouse needed to be upgraded, and construction on a replacement tower began in 1837- taking one year to complete a new, 102-foot tall tower. This updated tower was fitted with a revolving light which was made up of 12 lamps with 21-inch reflectors. The maritime traffic into Charleston was exploding at this point and Morris Island Light was a critical part of navigating the harbor. So in 1850, 1853, and 1854, additional funds were given by Congress for the upkeep of this important lighthouse.
A Hurricane Hits Morris Island
In September 1854, a hurricane ripped through Charleston, ravaging Morris Island, which came to be called the “Great Carolina Hurricane.” A category 3 storm by modern scale, the hurricane made landfall just south of Savannah causing significant wind and water damage, including a 16-foot storm surge that created a catastrophic storm tide along the coast. While Charleston experienced less damage than Savannah to the south, Morris Island suffered the brunt of heavy winds and storm surges. Following the Great Carolina Hurricane, the lighthouse was severely damaged, although reparable, while the lightkeeper’s house, the five beacons, bridges, and docks on the island were destroyed. In 1858, Congress allocated more funds to repair the lighthouse along with the construction of new beacons, and a new first-order lens was installed in the tower on January 1, 1858.
Destroyed in the Civil War
As a civil war loomed on the horizon, tension around control over the lighthouse grew and in December 1860, the Charleston lighthouse inspector reported to Washington that ‘it was likely that Morris Island lighthouse would be seized by South Carolina troops.’ The following month, on January 7, 1861, his prediction came true when news reached Charleston that a ship from New York was en route with supplies for federal troops held up in Fort Sumter. In response, Confederate troops destroyed the lighthouse and buried its lighting system so that Federal troops couldn’t navigate by it. Following the destruction of the Morris Island light, 164 other lights were removed from Virginia to Texas to prevent Union troops from using them to their benefit.
The Civil War on Morris Island
Even without its light, Morris Island turned out to be an important site and battleground throughout the Civil War. Union troops established a field camp on the island and a make-shift observation tower was erected on the site of the former lighthouse.
As a military camp, many significant events transpired here throughout the war, and one of the most significant events was in July 1863. On July 10th, Union troops attempted to take control of Fort Wagner by land but failed. On July 18th, Union troops gathered again, this time mustering on Morris Island to try and overtake Fort Wagner by sea.
The 54th Massachusetts Volunteers, comprised of 650 African American soldiers, stood on the beach of Morris Island with 5 other Union regiments- gathered while they awaited orders to storm Fort Wagner nearby. The 54th regimen was the first ever African-American unit that had been recruited in the North and the first to lead a major attack.
If they could seize Fort Wagner, the Union army could break through the harbor and take the city of Charleston- driving a stake in the heart of the fledgling Confederacy. A bloody battle ensued and countless wounded soldiers were gathered on the west end of Morris Island, with some being transported nearby to Folly Beach to a makeshift field hospital. Most of them did not survive and were buried in unmarked graves on Morris Island and Folly Beach.
The Third Lighthouse at Morris Island
Following the Civil War, it was determined that a new lighthouse was needed on the south end of Charleston Harbor, and in 1873, Congress made the first allocation of $60,000 “for the rebuilding of a first-order seacoast light on Morris Island destroyed during the war.” In 1874 and 1875, additional allocations were made by Congress for $90,000 to finish the work on the lighthouse, which was completed in 1876.
Due to a shift in the location of the channel, this new tower was built to the south of the second lighthouse, which coincidentally ended up on top of the exact site of the 1767 tower- the ruins of which were discovered during the construction of the third tower.
Foundation piles were driven and the space between them was filled with concrete that was 8 feet thick. A first-order Fresnel lens system was installed and this newly completed tower was 161 feet tall, making it the tallest lighthouse in the state of South Carolina and the 13th tallest lighthouse in the United States. Inside the tower, an iron spiral stair with nine flights of steps led to the light room, which has an external gallery with an iron parapet.
The Lighthouse Compound
At the same time the lighthouse tower was constructed in 1876, a compound of building were erected to to accommodate the lightkeepers and their families. Nautical maps from the late 1800s show 15 buildings here in addition to the light tower, including 3 residences, barns, a chicken coop, outbuildings, and a one-room schoolhouse for the lightkeepers’ children. A brick wall surrounded the entire self-sufficient complex, where residents kept a garden, and raised chickens and pigs.
During this period, a boardwalk system facilitated travel around the island and in the early 1900s, a car was imported to the Morris Island for the lightkeepers to get around the island. An interesting photo from 1934 shows a Ford Model-T loaded onto 3 small rowboats to be transported to Morris Island.
At one point, there were 3 families with young children living full-time on the island so a teacher was appointed for this small group of students. The teachers were brought in by boat from Charleston and surrounding areas. They would arrive on Mondays, stay with different families during the week, and then boat back to their respective homes for the weekend. One of these teachers was a woman named Ms. Elma Bradham.
Hurricane and Earthquake Damage to the Lighthouse
On August 25, 1885, a hurricane (category 2 by today’s standards) swept the coast at Charleston at 125 miles per hour, causing significant damage to the buildings and infrastructure on Morris Island. The high winds sustained just offshore destroyed the rear beacons, bridges, and boathouse- nearly every structure except for the lighthouse.
The following year, an earthquake struck Charleston on August 31, 1886, causing major damage throughout the city, believed to have been a magnitude 7 quake. The lighthouse wasn’t spared from damage when tremors from the earthquake threw the main lens of the main light out of position and cracked the tower extensively in two places. The lens had to be completely replaced but the cracks in the tower were able to be repaired.
Shifting Tides Bring at Morris Island
When the final of 3 lighthouses was built here in 1876, the tower stood about 1,200 feet from the edge of the shore of a large island- but all of that would change quickly. In 1889, the decision was made to construct jetties in the harbor to protect the shipping lanes into and out of Charleston Harbor. These jetties drastically altered ocean currents, inadvertently resulting in the loss of many historical sites, such as Fort Wagner.
This rapid erosion continues today and as a result, the sand underneath the tower has literally disappeared. In early 1938, the lighthouse stood at the tip of the only remaining shoreline, reduced drastically from the previously large island where it stood. By the end of that year, the shoreline had reached the tower and it was decided that they could no longer safely staff the lighthouse. Morris Island light became fully automated and the keepers and their families left the island for good.
Morris Island Light is Decommissioned
Morris Island Light continued automated operations until 1962 when the Coast Guard decided to erect a new lighthouse for Charleston Harbor in a better-protected location. That year, construction began on a new lighthouse at Sullivan’s Island, and Morris Island Lighthouse was decommissioned. In 1965, the government sold Morris Island Lighthouse to a private buyer, and in 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Since then, the remaining parts of the former lighthouse complex have been destroyed by years of hurricane and storm damage. In 1989 Hurricane Hugo took out most of the remaining structures and in 2017, Hurricane Irma destroyed the last remaining dock.
Efforts to ‘Save the Light’ at Morris Island
In the 1990s, a private citizens group was organized with the goal of preserving the lighthouse for future generations, called “Save the Light” and preservation efforts continue to this day. You can read more about their work here.
Although the Morris Island Lighthouse is surrounded by water and leaning from erosion, storm, and earthquake damage, the decommissioned tower is painted in an eye-catching horizontal pattern that allows it to serve as a daymark in the channel. But despite its iconic stature, location, and history, the tower continues to battle its greatest threat: natural erosion that has been exacerbated by forces of nature and the creation of the jetties in 1889.
How to Visit Morris Island Lighthouse
The lighthouse is closed and not accessible to the public, however, you can get a good view of it from the Lighthouse Inlet Heritage Preserve, Folly Beach. The park is open from sunrise to sunset and the small admission fee helps support the upkeep of the lighthouse and preserve. There are also private companies you can hire to charter boat tours or kayak rentals to see the tower up close.
