South Carolina Department of Archives and History |
National Register Properties in South Carolina U.S. Coast Guard Historic District, Charleston County (Ion Ave., Sullivan’s Island) |
The Sullivan’s Island Coast Guard Station is the oldest extant life saving installment on the South Carolina Coast. Shortly after the Civil War, the Federal government recognized its obligation for the personal safety of citizens in the port area of Charleston with the establishment of the now defunct Morris Island Station. When the main shipping channel into Charleston was altered about twenty years later, the citizens of the immediate area indicated their reciprocal acceptance of that principle. In 1891 the nearby summer village of Moultrieville deeded five acres of land to the United States government for the express purpose of establishing a life saving station and again in 1896 an additional acre to compensate for loss of land by erosion. All of the contributing properties in the district are located behind the primary dune. The station house/administration building (ca. 1891), boathouse (ca. 1891), garage (ca. 1938), and signal tower (ca. 1938) are laid out in an L-shaped court loosely organized around the bunker/sighting station (ca. 1898). The non-contributing lighthouse (ca. 1962) lies nearest the ocean. Listed in the National Register June 19, 1973.
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