Historic Resources of Sullivan's Island
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NPS Form 10-900-b OMB No. 1024-0018 (Rev. Aug. 2002) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES MULTIPLE PROPERTY DOCUMENTATION FORM This form is used for documenting multiple property groups relating to one or several historic contexts. See instructions in How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Complete each item by entering the requested information. For additional space, use continuation sheets (Form 10-900-a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer to complete all items. __X__ New Submission ____ Amended Submission A. Name of Multiple Property Listing Historic Resources of Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina B. Associated Historic Contexts (Name each associated historic context, identifying theme, geographical area, and chronological period for each.) 1) Resort Community Resort Community, 1830-1955 2) Military Facilities Military Facilities, 1809-1947 Sub: Fort Moultrie Military Facilities, 1809-1947 Sub: Expansion of Fort Moultrie Military Facilities, 1897-1947 Sub: Coast Guard Station Military Facilities, 1891-1898 C. Form Prepared By name/title David B. Schneider, Consultant organization Schneider Historic Preservation, LLC date 01/10/2007 street & number 411 E. 6th Street telephone 256-310-3620 city or town Anniston state AL zip code 36207 D. Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, I hereby certify that this documentation form meets the National Register documentation standards and sets forth requirements for the listing of related properties consistent with the National Register criteria. This submission meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60 and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. (___ See continuation sheet for additional comments.) Signature and title of certifying official _________________________________________________________________________________________ Mary W. Edmonds, Deputy SHPO, S.C. Department of Archives and History, Columbia, S.C. Date State or Federal Agency or Tribal government I hereby certify that this multiple property documentation form has been approved by the National Register as a basis for evaluating related properties for listing in the National Register _________________________________________ ____________ Signature of the Keeper Date Table of Contents for Written Narrative Provide the following information on continuation sheets. Cite the letter and the title before each section of the narrative. Assign page numbers according to the instructions for continuation sheets in How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Fill in page numbers for each section in the space below Page Numbers E. Statement of Historic Contexts (If more than one historic context is documented, present them in sequential order.) 1-10 F. Associated Property Types 11-26 (Provide description,significance, and registration requirements.) G. Geographical Data 27 H. Summary of Identification and Evaluation Methods 28-29 (Discuss the methods used in developing the multiple property listing.) I. Major Bibliographical References 30 (List major written works and primary location of additional documentation: State Historic Preservation Office, other State agency, Federal agency, local government, university, or other, specifying repository.) Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). A federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 120 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 1849 C St., NW, Washington, DC 20240. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET name of multiple property listing: Historic Resources of Sullivan’s Island Section _E__ Page 1 county and State Charleston County, SC E. Statement of Historic Contexts Sullivan's Island is located at the mouth of Charleston Harbor and has played an important role in the region's history since the earliest days of English settlement in South Carolina. The development of the island's community has traditionally been closely associated with both the defense of the harbor and the summer recreation habits of Charleston and surrounding communities. Setting This Island is a very singular one. It consists of little else than the sea sand, and is about three miles long. Its breadth at no point exceeds a quarter of a mile. It is separated from the main land by a scarcely perceptible creek, oozing its way through a wilderness of reeds and slime, a favorite resort of the marsh-hen. The vegetation, as might be supposed, is scant, or at least dwarfish. No trees of any magnitude are to be seen. Near the western extremity, where Fort Moultrie stands, and where are some miserable frame buildings, tenanted, during summer, by the fugitives from Charleston dust and fever, may be found, indeed, the bristly palmetto; but the whole island, with the exception of this western point, and a line of hard, white beach on the seacoast, is covered with a dense undergrowth of the sweet myrtle, so much prized by the horticulturists of England. The shrub here often attains the height of fifteen or twenty feet, and forms an almost impenetrable coppice, burthening the air with its fragrance. Edgar Allan Poe, The Gold Bug, 1843 Sullivan's Island is located at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. The 4.3-mile long island is a generally L-shaped long narrow barrier island with its shorter westernmost leg extending in a generally southeast to northwest direction and its much longer body extending in a generally southwest to northeast direction. The island fronts on the Atlantic Ocean which lies to its southwest and south. Marshland, across which flow the Sullivan’s Island Narrows, the Intracoastal Waterway, and Conch Creek, separates the island from the mainland to the north. Breech Inlet, a narrow watercourse, separates Sullivan’s Island from the Isle of Palms to the east. As a barrier island, Sullivan’s Island is constantly being changed by the forces of the ocean and by periodic storm forces. Over the past century, the land area of the island has been increasing, as accretion has gradually extended it further toward the ocean. The physical character and vegetation of the island is typical of that found on other barrier islands along the South Carolina coast. Beaches line the oceanfront side of the island extending in varying widths from the water to a series of sand dunes. The remainder of the island to the rear of the dune line is generally flat with the general exception of a series of man-made mounds constructed in the late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century as part of a system of coastal fortifications. Natural vegetation on the island includes sea grasses, myrtles, palmettos, oaks, and other trees. Settlement and Early Development of Sullivan’s Island Sullivan’s Island was named for Captain Florence O'Sullivan, who came to the colonies in 1669. O'Sullivan was elected to South Carolina's First Provincial Parliament in 1672 and on 30 May 1674 was appointed to take charge of a signal cannon that was placed on the island was to be fired as a warning of the approach of ships into the harbor to Charles Towne, then located upriver at Albermarle Point. O'Sullivan's post established the island as an important component of the harbor's defenses, a role that it would retain until World War II. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES CONTINUATION SHEET name of multiple property listing: Historic Resources of Sullivan’s Island Section _E__ Page 2 county and State Charleston County, SC Various legislative acts refer to the maintenance of the "watch house on Sullivan's Island" throughout the remainder of the 17th century. In 1700, the legislature passed an act "to encourage strangers to come to this port (Charleston) by making Sullivan's Island more remarkable, by building a new lookout and buoying the channel." In 1714, it passed a further act to appoint Commissioners to layout streets and regulate police. In addition to its role as a coastal defense and marking station, the island also served as the location for the harbor's early pest houses or lazarettoes. These structures were built as quarantine stations for all domestic and international travelers entering Charleston who were thought to present a potential risk for the spread of disease. A 1707 legislative act called for the construction of what was probably the first pest house on the island and an act of 1753 called for the replacement of a pest house that had been destroyed by a hurricane. Military Facilities, 1809-1947 Evidence suggests that the island remained sparsely populated in the years prior to the Revolutionary War. In early 1776, construction started, under the command of Col. William Moultrie, on the first substantial fortification on Sullivan's Island, to be built of sixteen foot thick palmetto log cribbing filled with sand. Work was completed on the beachfront and part of the northern front by June of that year when Sir Peter Parker's British forces attacked the fort and its thirty-one guns.