Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park | |
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Nearest city | Charleston, South Carolina |
Coordinates | 32°45′8″N79°52′29″W / 32.75222°N 79.87472°W |
Area | 199.57 acres (80.76 ha) [1] |
Established | 1948 |
Visitors | 888,330(in 2016) |
Governing body | National Park Service |
Website | Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park |
Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in Charleston County, in coastal South Carolina. It mainly protects Fort Sumter, Fort Moultrie, the Charleston Light and Liberty Square. It was known as Fort Sumter National Monument until it was renamed in the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, signed March 12, 2019. [2]
The Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center is located at 340 Concord Street, Liberty Square, Charleston, South Carolina, on the banks of the Cooper River. [3] The center features museum exhibits about the disagreements between the North and South that led to the incidents at Fort Sumter, particularly in South Carolina and Charleston. Displays include slavery and the plantation culture, major figures, politics, and how the Confederate Army was formed. This site is also the main departure point for tour boats heading to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Park rangers and volunteers offer topical programs throughout the week for every boat.
The museum at Fort Sumter itself focuses on the activities at the fort, including its construction and role during the American Civil War. The fort is open to the public only via concession tour boat; access from private watercraft or via the low-tide sandbar is not permitted. [4]
The Fort Moultrie Visitor Center is located at 1214 Middle Street, Sullivan's Island across from the fort itself. [5] There is a self-guiding brochure available and interpretive wayside exhibits posted throughout the fort. Guided tours are offered daily at 11:00 am and 2:30 pm, based on staff availability. The center offers an orientation film and museum exhibits about American seacoast defenses from 1809 to 1947, and the history of the first two forts. [6] There is an information desk staffed by NPS Rangers, a book/souvenir store and bathrooms.
Charleston Light is not open to the public but can be viewed from its surrounding grounds, which also allow beach access. [7]
Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island near Charleston, South Carolina, to defend the region from a naval invasion. It was built after British forces captured and occupied Washington during the War of 1812 via a naval attack. The fort was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle of Fort Sumter occurred from April 12 to 13, sparking the American Civil War. It was severely damaged during the battle and left in ruins. Although there were some efforts at reconstruction after the war, the fort as conceived was never completed. Since the middle of the 20th century, Fort Sumter has been open to the public as part of the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, operated by the National Park Service.
Sullivan's Island, historically known as O'Sullivan's Island, is a town and island in Charleston County, South Carolina, United States, at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, with a population of 1,791 at the 2010 census, and 1,891 people in 2020. The town is part of the Charleston metropolitan area and is considered a very affluent suburb of Charleston.
William Moultrie was an American slaveowning planter and politician who became a general in the American Revolutionary War. As colonel leading a state militia, in 1776 he prevented the British from taking Charleston, and Fort Moultrie was named in his honor.
Morris Island is an 840-acre (3.4 km2) uninhabited island in Charleston Harbor in South Carolina, accessible only by boat. The island lies in the outer reaches of the harbor and was thus a strategic location in the American Civil War. The island is part of the cities of Charleston and Folly Beach, in Charleston County.
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment of Fort Sumter near Charleston, South Carolina, by the South Carolina militia. It ended with the surrender of the fort by the United States Army, beginning the American Civil War.
The flag of South Carolina is a symbol of the U.S. state of South Carolina consisting of a blue field with a white palmetto tree and white crescent. Roots of this design have existed in some form since 1775, being based on one of the first American Revolutionary War flags. While keeping most of its design intact since its adoption, it has varied over the years.
Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of palmetto logs, inspired the flag and nickname of South Carolina, as "The Palmetto State". The fort was renamed for the U.S. patriot commander in the Battle of Sullivan's Island, General William Moultrie. During British occupation, in 1780–1782, the fort was known as Fort Arbuthnot.
White Point Garden is a 5.7 acre public park located in peninsular Charleston, South Carolina, at the tip of the peninsula. It is the southern terminus for the Battery, a defensive seawall and promenade. It is bounded by East Battery, Murray Blvd., King St., and South Battery.
National Military Park, National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, and National Battlefield Site are four designations for 25 battle sites preserved by the United States federal government because of their national importance. The designation applies to "sites where historic battles were fought on American soil during the armed conflicts that shaped the growth and development of the United States...."
Castle Pinckney is a small masonry fortification constructed by the United States government, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1810. It was used very briefly as a prisoner-of-war camp and artillery position during the American Civil War. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Georges Island is one of the islands in the Boston Harbor, situated just over 7 miles (11 km) from downtown Boston. The island has a permanent size of 39 acres (160,000 m2), plus an intertidal zone of a further 14 acres (57,000 m2), and rises to a height of 50 feet (15 m) above sea level. Historic Fort Warren is on the island. Because of this, and since a ferry operates from Boston to the island, it is a popular destination and one of the easiest islands to access in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
The Fort Sumter Flag is a historic United States flag with a distinctive, diamond-shaped pattern of 33 stars. When the main flagpole was felled by a shot during the bombardment of Fort Sumter by Confederate forces, Peter Hart rushed to retrieve the flag and remount it on a makeshift pole. The flag was lowered by Major Robert Anderson on April 13, 1861, when he surrendered Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, at the outset of the American Civil War.
Roswell Sabine Ripley was an officer in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War, a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. He was also an author and a prosperous South Carolina businessman.
Charleston Light, also known as Sullivan's Island Lighthouse, is located on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, which is the northern entrance to Charleston Harbor. Designed by Thomas Sullivan, the lighthouse was erected to replace the defunct Morris Island Light on Morris Island, which was at risk of being destroyed by erosion, but which remains standing and was stabilized in 2010. Construction of the Charleston Light was started in 1960, and it was first lit on June 15, 1962.
The Battle of Sullivan's Island or the Battle of Fort Sullivan was fought on June 28, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. It took place near Charleston, South Carolina, during the first British attempt to capture the city from American forces. It is also sometimes referred to as the first siege of Charleston, owing to a more successful British siege in 1780.
The Floating Battery of Charleston Harbor was an ironclad vessel that was constructed by the Confederacy in early 1861, a few months before the American Civil War ignited. Apart from being a marvel to contemporary Charlestonians, it was a strategic naval artillery platform that took part in the bombardment of Fort Sumter on April 12 and April 13, 1861, making it the first floating battery to engage in hostilities during the Civil War.
The Fort Sumter Range Lights are range lights to guide ships through the main channel of the Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The original front light was built at Fort Sumter and the original rear light was in the steeple of St. Philip's Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Both lights were lit from 1893 to 1915 to make range lights. Today the Fort Sumter Range is the main approach channel to Charleston Harbor.
The Civil War Trust's Civil War Discovery Trail is a heritage tourism program that links more than 600 U.S. Civil War sites in more than 30 states. The program is one of the White House Millennium Council's sixteen flagship National Millennium Trails. Sites on the trail include battlefields, museums, historic sites, forts and cemeteries.
Pearl Harbor National Memorial is a unit of the National Park System of the United States on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act removed the site from the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument on March 12, 2019, and made it a separate national memorial. It has an area of 21.3 acres (0.086 km2).
The William Moultrie statue is a monumental statue in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Located in White Point Garden, the statue was unveiled in 2007 and honors William Moultrie, a general in the American Revolutionary War.