When erosion threatened the Morris Island Lighthouse, located south of Charleston Harbor, the decision was made to construct a replacement beacon on Sullivan’s Island, north of the harbor’s entrance. Although the triangular tower, built of concrete and steel and clad in a skin of aluminum, doesn’t have much Southern charm, it does have some redeeming qualities. Inside the tower, the keepers of the light are treated to air conditioning and an elevator that offers a leisurely, 74-second trip skyward. After the elevator ride, it is still necessary to scale a 25-foot vertical ladder to reach the lantern room, where a powerful light source is housed.

When first activated on June 15, 1962, the lighthouse featured an amazing 28 million candlepower light, produced by carbon arc lamps costing $900 apiece, that was the second brightest in the western hemisphere. This powerful beam proved dangerous to its keepers and bothersome to its neighbors. In order to access the lantern room when the powerful lamps were lit, keepers were required to don an asbestos welding suit. To pacify neighbors, plate steel was installed in the landward side of the lantern room. The beacon was downgraded a decade later to a light of just over a million candlepower. Visible from twenty-six miles, the light now has a unique flashing characteristic consisting of a 0.2-second flash, a 4.8-second eclipse, another 0.2-second flash, and a 24.8-second eclipse.

The Charleston Lighthouse was originally painted white and red-orange, but the coloring proved so unpopular that the tower's daymark was soon changed to the current black-top, white-bottom paint scheme.

Charleston Lighthouse in 1962 Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

The high-tech Charleston Lighthouse overlooks one of the South’s oldest and most historic cities. Just down the street from the lighthouse is Fort Moultrie, named after William Moultrie a Revolutionary hero responsible for building an earlier fort on the same site. Moultrie and his men repelled a British armada on June 28, 1776, supplying momentum to the quest for independence that would be officially declared just six days later. Fort Sumter is located just offshore from Fort Moultrie. In April of 1860, Confederate forces in Fort Moultrie fired on the Federal soldiers in Fort Sumter, marking the beginning of the Civil War.

The 163-foot-tall triangular lighthouse is not the first to be built on Sullivan’s Island. Records indicate that a small tower equipped with a sixth-order Fresnel lens was placed on the southern end of the island near Fort Moultrie in 1848. The tower was rebuilt in 1872, and a companion light was added in 1888 to form a set of range lights.

In 1898, a lifesaving station was built on Sullivan’s Island. The station’s dwelling and boathouse still survive next to the Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse, and were used by the Coast Guardsmen manning the light.

Mike Sejman served at the lighthouse in the 1970s, when the station was staffed by a 1st class petty officer serving as the Commanding Officer, a 2nd class petty officer, and two non-rated crew members. Speaking to a reporter from the The Charleston Observer in 1976, Sejman mused, "It's a little sad sometimes to think that pretty soon they are going to automate the light here and they won't need us any more. I guess all the romance is about gone out of lighthouse keeping. I'm sorry too. I like it."

Sejman enjoyed showing the public around the lighthouse, which was open to visitors for a few hours on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Due to the inherent danger involved in negotiating the vertical ladder that led to the lantern room, guests were required to sign a release relieving the Coast Guard of any liability in case of an accident. In November of 1976, responsibility for servicing the now-automated lighthouse was transferred to the Coast Guard Station in Charleston.

In 1986, the National Park Service took over the lifesaving station property, excluding the lighthouse, and started to use the historic buildings as offices, maintenance shops, and housing for seasonal rangers.

On May 29, 2008, the Charleston Lighthouse was also transferred from the Coast Guard to the National Park Service, which is committed to protecting the historic nature of the property and to prevent commercial development on the site. The Coast Guard will continue to maintain the light, but the Park Service will be responsible for the upkeep of the tower.

On the official transfer day for the lighthouse, Bob Dodson, superintendent of Fort Sumter National Monument, met with Chief Boatswain's Mate Andrew White, the Coast Guard's local officer in charge of aids to navigation, to obtain the keys and security code for the tower and to discuss maintenance and access issues. "You are relieving me of a big burden by taking over the lighthouse," White said, noting that his crew of ten were responsible for monitoring and maintaining about 600 navigational aids along the South Carolina coast. Due to the difficulty of accessing the lantern room and viewing platform, the Charleston Lighthouse will not be open to the public on a regular basis, but the Park Service has not ruled out an annual or semi-annual open house.

A celebration for the earlier transfer was held at the lighthouse on November 9, 2008. At that time, the grounds, lifesaving quarters, boathouse, and the base of the tower were open to the public. A symbolic key transfer was held, with local officials participating.

On January 7, 2009, Jack Graham, accompanied by his wife Martha, stopped by the Sullivan's Island Lighthouse. Making it to the top of the tower that her husband designed was on Martha's "bucket list." Jack Graham completed his architectural training at the University of Pennsylvania in 1957 under the tutelage of Louis Kahn, who was obsessed with triangles. A year after graduating, Graham learned he would be drafted, so he signed up with the Coast Guard and was stationed at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1959, he was asked to come up with a design for a lighthouse, and given his background, he based it on a triangle, the strongest structural shape. Graham also persuaded the Coast Guard to install the elevator in the lighthouse because of the numerous reported accidents that occurred on lighthouse steps.

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References

1. Lighthouses of the Carolinas: A Short History and Guide, Terrance Zepke, 1998.
2. "Lighthouse under new ownership," Robert Behre, The Post and Courier, May 30, 2008.
3. "Designer of Sullivan's light gets some recognition," Jessica Johnson, The Post and Courier, January 15, 2009.
4. "The Last to Keep Watch," The Charlotte Observer, September 12, 1976.