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Castle Pinckney, SC  Lighthouse destroyed.   

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Castle Pinckney Lighthouse

1855 – Appropriated by act of Congress, for a small lt. on Castle Pinckney, to mark the channels from the bar to the bar to the city and up the Cooper River, August 3, 1854, $1,500.

1856 – The lights authorized to be built at Castle Pinckney and at Fort Sumter (Charleston harbor) have been completed and lighted.

1865 – Temporary structures with steamer lenses occupy the sites (nearly) of the former lights upon Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney, and answer a good purpose.

1866 – The temporary skeleton tower and steamer lens erected at Fort Sumter have been removed, and a more permanent work substituted. The present structure consists of a substantial frame tower enclosed, carrying a fifth-order lantern and lens. A similar substitution was made at Castle Pinckney light-station.

1867 – Fort Sumter, Castle Pinckney, and Battery Beacon stations are in good condition.

1868 – Castle Pinckney.—In good condition.

1869 – Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor.—The building has been painted during the year and is in good condition.

1874 – Castle Pickney, on Castle Pickney, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. —This is a wood framed pyramidal beacon, 36 feet high to the focal plane, was built in 1866, and last repaired in 1872. It is now in a dilapidated state and in need of extensive repairs, the wood-work being mostly rotten. It will be better to rebuild the structure entire, which can be done for $2,000, and an appropriation of this amount is asked.

1875 – Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.—An appropriation of $2,000 was made by act approved March 3,1875, for rebuilding this beacon, which was damaged in a hurricane the year previous. Should the appropriation recommended for Fort Ripley be made, this light can be discontinued and the appropriation revert to the Treasury.

1876 – Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.—The work of rebuilding this beacon, for which an appropriation of $2,000 was made by Congress, will not be commenced, as the light will be discontinued when the one on Fort Ripley Shoal is built.

1877 – Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.—This beacon will be discontinued on the completion of Fort Ripley Shoal light-station.

1878 – Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.—This light will be discontinued on the completion of Fort Ripley Light.

1879 – Castle Pinckney, on Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, December 1, 1878 - discontinued.

1879 - By act of Congress approved March 3, 1879, an appropriation of $10,000 was made for establishing a depot for buoys and supplies at Castle Pinckney, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Examinations of the site have been made, and plans for a wharf are being prepared.
A wharf at the new custom-house furnishes temporary accommodation for buoys and light-house material. It is in bad condition, but will probably last until the new wharf at Castle Pinckney is built.

1908 – The act approved February 26, 1907, authorized the establishment of 30 light-keepers’ dwellings, at a cost not to exceed $6,500 each. Under allotments made from the appropriation of $75,000 (act of Mar. 4, 1907) the following-described work has been accomplished:
Castle Pinckney, South Carolina.—At the close of the fiscal year the building was completed, except for a ridge roll on roof, painting, plumbing, guttering, erection of structure for water tank, and some minor items of interior finish. The amount expended on account thereof, including outstanding liabilities, was $5,421.65.

1909 – The balance of the appropriation for light-keepers’ dwellings, made by the acts of March 4, 1907, and May 27, 1908, was applied to the construction of dwellings at the following-named light-stations:Castle Pinckney, S. C.

1914 – On June 18, Iver Larsen, keeper, and Joel E. Hammett, assistant keeper, of Castle Pinckney Lighthouse Depot, N.C. rendered assistance during a heavy squall to a party in a capsized boat and saved the boat from probable destruction. See LSB August 1914.

1916 – I. Larsen, depot keeper, assisted in mooring launch, grounded near depot, in safe place and transported crew to Charleston.

Keepers: Gilbert Dudley (1856), James Skillin (1856 – at least 1859), A. G. Farris (1865), James Skillin (1865 – 1875), Charles J. Player (1875), George W. Williams (1875 – 1876), Charles J. Player (1876), G.B. Thompson (1876 – 1878), B.F. Lytle (1878).


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