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Managing Organization:
Save the Light Inc.
Telephone: 843-556-0353
Website: http://www.savethelight.org
Email:
Contact Address Information:
P.O. Box 12490
Charleston
South Carolina, 29422, United States
Notes:
There has been a navigational aid in this vicinity since 1673, when pitch fires were lighted at night. The 1767 tower was destroyed by Confederate troops during the Civil War in 1861. The current tower went into operation in 1876. Erosion problems caused the lighthouse to be abandoned and by 1948 it was completely surrounded by water. Save the Light Inc. bought the inactive and deteriorated Morris Island Lighthouse from a private owner for $75,000 in February 1999. In April 2000, the State of South Carolina agreed to buy the lighthouse for the sum of $1.00. In December 2000, the title transfer took place and Save The Light, Inc. signed a 99-year lease for the lighthouse. The agreement made the nonprofit organization responsible for raising the needed funds, working with the Army Corps of Engineers, coordinating the preservation efforts and also establishing a long-term maintenance program for the lighthouse.
Tower Height: 161
Height of Focal Plane: 158
Description of Tower: Conical stone tower with brown and white bands.
Listed on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List of endangered lighthouses.
This light is not operational
Earlier Towers?
1767: 102-foot octagonal brick tower.
Date Established: 1767
Date Present Tower Built: 1876
Date Deactivated: 1962
Date Automated: 1938
Optics: 1857: First order Fresnel lens.
Open To Public? No.
Directions:
Northbound on US Route 17: Turn right onto SC 17 and follow to Folly Beach. At the second traffic signal, one block before a hotel at the end of Center Street, turn left at East Ashley Street. Continue for 3.3 miles to the entrance of an abandoned Coast Guard LORAN station. Pedestrians are allowed to walk 0.25 mile to the beach for a view of the lighthouse.
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