The Remnants Of This Abandoned Fort In South Carolina Are Hauntingly Beautiful
Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island is a great example of coastal defense fortifications employed in the U.S. from 1776-1947. It’s operated by the National Park Service and offers great insight into the life and battles along the South Carolina coast during a handful of major battles and during peacetime. Restored to demonstrate the various forts that have existed here, Fort Moultrie is abandoned as far as coastal defense is concerned, and the remains are hauntingly beautiful.
Over time, this site has been home to three different forts, the first being a simple log fort built from Palmetto Trees and virtually incomplete at the time the Revolutionary War began. When you visit Fort Moultrie today, there's an example of that structure.
The "second" Fort Moultrie was built in 1798 on the same grounds. It was destroyed by a hurricane in September, 1804. A new brick fort (Fort Moultire No. 3) followed in 1809. Great detail about this new fort can be found on the website BattlefieldsInMotion.com.
Fort Moultrie is a monument commemorating the many battles fought in the Charleston area. It's part of the Fort Moultrie - Fort Sumter National Monument and one of the best restored and maintained historic forts in the Southeast.
You can wander around the exterior of the fort and all over the grounds at will. It's perched on one of the most beautiful beaches on Sullivan's Island. The beach can be accessed via a makeshift (non-ADA) path from the manicured front lawn between the fort and the beach. There's also a small street with direct beach access immediately to the right of the fort grounds, however swimming on this beach is not recommended due to strong currents.
For a small fee, you can enter the fort and take a guided tour or wander freely.
See history up close and walk the halls where soldiers assigned to Fort Moultrie would have walked.
Certain parts of the interior have been beautifully maintained and/or restored.
The fort tells a story backward through time and covers pretty much every period of service in which the fort operated. They even built a wall example of the very first fort structure, made out of palmetto logs.
Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island is a great half-day trip to see the hauntingly beautiful remains of this historic fort in South Carolina. It's definitely "bullet-list" worthy.
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