Transfer Usually a Prelude to Excessing

The Coast Guard has recently transferred ownership of the unique Charleston (South Carolina) Lighthouse (also known as Sullivan’s Island Light) to the National Park Service. Often that signifies the light is soon to be excessed, and given to a non-profit group or municipality to maintain it. It’s not on this year’s list, however. The Park Service already owned the the 1.5 acre site of the former Lifeguard Station next to the light, so this transfer actually puts the two properties under one owner. Unfortunately, there are no plans to open it to the public on a regular basis as yet. That may change as the Park Service determines its condition. Perhaps this most unique of lights will be open to the public a few times a year.

Why Is This Lighthouse So Unique?

The Elevator
Not too many lighthouses in the US, or in fact anywhere in the world, can lay claim to having a (sometimes) working passenger elevator. It’s only sometimes, because often it rises on its own and maintenance workers have to climb the 140 steps to get at it to reset it. It won’t be suitable for public use, according to Chief Boatswain’s Mate Andrew White, the Coast Guard officer in charge of Aids to Navigation. “The biggest issue about this lighthouse is the elevator, and it has been for years,” he said in a story in the Charleston Post and Courier.

Although it’s a smooth but slow 74 second ride to the top, potential visitors would still have to climb straight up a 25 foot steel ladder to get to the top. “This is not a user-friendly lighthouse,” Superintendent of the Fort Sumter National Monument Bob Dodson said. “It’s not going to be an open lighthouse like other historic lighthouses. That’s a given.”

The Shape
Lighthouses are generally conical shaped, or maybe hexagon. Sometimes square. This one is a triangular shape. That’s not something you see very often. Perhaps the fact this is also the last lighthouse built by the Federal Government (in 1962) has something to do with it. But this is the light that replaced the eroded Morris Island Lighthouse, which was left standing in the water as erosion ate away at the sands around it. Morris Island Light went dark when Charleston Light was lit on June 15, 1962.

The Light
And speaking of the light, that’s the other unique thing about this lighthouse. It had the second brightest beam in the world at 28 million candlepower. It could be seen a full 70 miles out to sea. Its brightness was surpassed only by the lighthouse in Rouen, France. However, its very brightness brought a myriad of complaints from local residents, and the Coast Guard decided a light that strong wasn’t necessary. In 1972, the power was reduced by 95 percent to a more “normal” 1.5 million candlepower. Plus metal panels were installed at the rear to minimize the light directed toward land. Now it can only be seen 26 miles out to sea.

The Color
Although now its daymark is a white base with a black band at the top, when it was first built, the color was such an ugly red color that public outcry forced a quick color change. No photos exist that I could find of the original color, so we’ll just have to accept the taste of the good citizens of Charleston as to the horribleness of the color.

Tower In Good Shape

Fortunately, the tower is in pretty good repair so the NPS will not have to do too much at the moment. It was constructed of steel covered with aluminum panels and beyond a little rust and cobwebs on the first floor, probably doesn’t need much more than a new coat of paint. White said another thing that needs is fixing is, of course, the elevator that has a mind of its own.

The Charleston Post and Courier also has a video of this story, which includes film of a ride in the elevator and views from the lantern room (including the light). Be sure to watch it.

Photo Credits:

• Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse (top) by Eyebee. Some rights reserved.
• Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse by Micah A. Ponce. Some rights reserved.

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