Cape Romain Lighthouse

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Cape Romain Light

(McClellanville, South Carolina)

There are currently two Cape Romain lighthouse towers on Lighthouse Island, a short distance off the coast of McClellanville, South Carolina. Lighthouse Island was formally known as Raccoon Key and is an island about seventy-five acres in size. McClellanville is approximately half way between Georgetown and Charleston, South Carolina.

A lighthouse was needed in the area to help ships navigate around the dangerous Cape Romain Shoals that extended for about nine miles into the ocean. Funding was initially made available for the construction of a lighthouse on Lighthouse Island in 1823. Various issues, however, delayed construction and the tower was finally completed in 1827.

The first tower was a fairly simple one. It stood 87 feet tall with a base diameter of approximately 30 feet and a diameter of 15 feet at the top. The tower was painted black and white. Based on sea captain complaints about the light being too dim, the light was improved in 1847. The new lamp system consisted of eleven lamps with reflectors.

Complaints continued, and it was decided that a new taller lighthouse was needed. The new lighthouse tower was built a short distance from the old one in 1858 and the initial tower was decommissioned. When the 1827 tower was decommissioned, the lighting apparatus was removed, but the tower itself was not torn down. It remains to today.

The new tower was octagonal and stood 150 feet tall with a focal plane of 161 feet and contained a 1^st-order Fresnel lens that could be seen approximately 19 miles away. The tower was painted with alternating black and white vertical stripes. During construction it was discovered that the tower was leaning slightly such that the top of the tower was 24 inches off to one side. This defect was never corrected.

In 1931 the light and lens were replaced with a revolving bull’s-eye lens containing a 500-watt bulb. In 1937 the tower was automated with a 1000-watt light system and the older tower was painted red so as not to be confused with the day mark of the newer tower.

The 1858 tower served until 1947 when the U.S. Coast Guard replaced the lighthouse with lighted buoys. The light was removed from the tower but it still retains the lantern room with and exterior balcony with railing and a circular brass roof.

Directions: The lighthouse can only be reached by boat. The nearest boat launch is in McClellanville and one of the local marinas may provide charter service for a fee. The island is not easily accessible for walking around and the best views are directly from the boat. The trip from the McClellanville dock to the island is a challenge for those not familiar to the area. There are many waterways that wind through marshy islands that result in the trip being much like going through a maze.

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