The island was known as O'Sullivan's Island from an
early date, because of the Irishman, Captain Florence O'Sullivan,
who was stationed as a lighthouse keeper in the late seventeenth
century. The island was completely denuded in order to distinguish
the approach to Charleston Harbor.
Sullivan's Island was the primary disembarkation
port and entrance to the British North American colonies of over
40% of the Slave traded Blacks to the British Colonies using
the Middle Passage. It was the largest slave port in North
America. Sullivans Island served as the primary quarantine quarters
and slave market for the American Colonies that would later become
the United States. It is estimated that nearly half of all African
Americans had ancestors that passed through Sullivans
Island.
On 28 June 1776, a makeshift log fort was held by
colonial forces against a sustained siege and bombardment by British
forces under Lord Cornwallis attempting to enter the harbor to
besiege and conquer the City of Charleston. The palmetto logs used
in the construction proved to be remarkably spongy and absorbed the
cannon balls. The Battle of Fort Moultrie was commemorated by the
addition of a white palmetto tree to the blue and white crescent
moon flag of South Carolina. The victory is still celebrated every
June 28, known as Carolina day.
The history of the island has been dominated by the
extensive coastal defenseworks known as Fort Moultrie, which served
as the base of command for the defenses of the City of Charleston
until it was closed in the late 1940s.
Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie from
1827 to 1828. The island was the setting of his short story "The
Gold-Bug." The town library, situated in a refurbished military
battery, is named after the poet. Several streets on the island bear
the names of his works as well, including "Raven" and "Gold Bug"
Drives.
Morris Island Light is a lighthouse on Morris Island in
South Carolina. The light stands on the southern side of the
entrance to Charleston Harbor, north of the town of Folly
Beach.
The lighthouse is unusual in that it now stands
several hundred feet offshore. When constructed in 1876 the light
was approximately 1200 feet from the water's edge. However, the
construction in 1889 of the jetties which protect the shipping lanes
leading to Charleston Harbor altered ocean currents, resulting in
the rapid erosion of Morris Island and the destruction of many
structures and historical sites (such as Fort Wagner). By 1938 the
shoreline had reached the lighthouse, forcing its automation as it
was no longer safe or practical to keep it manned. In 1962 the
Morris Island Light was decommissioned and replaced by the Sullivan
Island Lighthouse on the north side of the harbor.
The Sullivan Island Lighthouse - was built in
1962. The 140-foot-tall triangular building boasts an elevator
instead of the typical spiral
staircase.
Other literary connections to the
island include the novel Sullivan's Island by Dorothea Benton Frank
and inclusions in the novel Beach Music and the
semi-autobiographical memoir The Boo, both by novelist Pat
Conroy.
For most of its history, the town on the island was
known as Moultrieville, on the south-west half of the island.
Another community on the north-east portion, Atlanticville, was
established and later merged to form the Town of Sullivan's
Island.
In May 2006, the Town of Sullivan's Island became
the first municipality in South Carolina to ban smoking in all
public places. The ordinance passed 4-2 and the ban went into effect
in June.
(source: Wikipedia)