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Morris Island Light (Morris Island, South Carolina)
Standing all alone about 300 yards off the
shore from Folly Beach in the outskirts of the Charleston Harbor, it is hard to
imagine that the tower, now completely surrounded by water, was once sitting on
a good sized island with numerous buildings around it. The lighthouse was
completed in 1876 and was the second lighthouse to be built on the island. In the 1700s there were three islands that
stretched for four miles between Folly Island and Sullivan’s Island. They were
named Middle Bay Island, Morrison Island, and Cummings Point. The first
Charleston lighthouse was built on Middle Bay Island in 1767. The lighthouse was designed by Samuel Cardy and built be Adam
Miller and Thomas Young. The tower was cylindrical and stood 102 feet tall. The
lantern room had a revolving lamp that had a range of about 12 miles. In 1858 a
1st-order Fresnel lens was installed. In the early 1800s the channel leading to
Charleston began to shift causing a change in the tidal currents. Sand began to
build up between the islands and this resulted in the three islands merging into
a single island. Since Morrison Island was the central of the three earlier
islands, the now single island was called Morrison Island.
Later the name was shortened to Morris Island. The first Charleston lighthouse continued to
provide service up to the Civil War. In 1861 the fleeing Confederate soldiers
blew up the lighthouse so northern troops could not use it. Following the civil war, in 1873, Congress
appropriated money for the rebuilding of the Morris Island Light, then referred
to as the Charleston Main Light. The
lighthouse was completed in 1876 approximately 400 yards from the earlier tower.
It stood 161 feet tall and was patterned after the Bodie Light of the Outer
Banks in North Carolina. It even used the same paint scheme as a day mark –
black and white horizontal stripes. There were a total of 15 buildings on the
island besides the lighthouse tower. Included in these were the keeper’s
quarters, various outbuildings, and a one-room schoolhouse (the school teacher
came over from the mainland on Monday, taught the children during the week and
returned to the mainland on Friday). Towards the end of the 1800s the channel had
again shifted but this time the change threatened the Charleston Harbor.
In order to keep the channel open several jetties had to be built.
These were completed in 1889. Although the channel into Charleston was
saved, the changing tidal currents resulting from the jetties caused severe
erosion on Morris Island. The island began to shrink. By 1938 many of the
buildings were destroyed and others moved. The light was automated in 1938 and
the 1st-order Fresnel lens removed.
(Charleston light in distance across harbor) Since 1938 over 1600 feet of land
surrounding the tower was lost. Today it stands alone, completely surrounded by
water. In 1962 the Sullivan’s
Island lighthouse was built to replace the Morris Island Light, which was
decommissioned. The U.S. Coast
Guard had plans to demolish the tower but petitions from local residents saved
the structure. The Coast Guard
built an underground steel wall around the tower to protect it from further
erosion damage. The lighthouse tower is now privately owned and efforts are
underway to preserve the light tower. Directions: The Morris Island Light
can best be seen from the north end of James Island on Folly Beach. Follow SC 171 to James Island and Folly Beach. Turn left onto
East Ashley Street till it ends. There is a parking lot and from there it is
about a ½ mile walk to the beach.
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All pictures are the original work of Rick Totton and are protected under copyright laws. Do not reproduce any images from this website without permission of the author. Copyright (c) 2000 Rick Totton.
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