Hunting Island Lighthouse

Hunting Island Lighthouse, Hunting Island, SC    

Beautiful Beaufort By the Sea is always a good lunch spot destination for a day trip but thanks to Charleston Daily's recent photo blog of the lighthouse at Hunting Island we went a little further to explore. Glad we did! What a beautiful spot. It might be the start of a new lighthouse hunting series.

Lighthouse History & FeaturesThe first lighthouse was destroyed by the confederates during the beginning of the Civil War to prevent the Union from using it as a means of navigation. It was rebuilt and placed back into service in 1875. The purpose of this lighthouse was to warn ships to stay far away, as there are many hazards such as sandbars, wrecks, surf and treacherous currents. It was deactivated in June of 1933.

A unique feature of this lighthouse is that it was constructed using cast iron plates and designed to be dismantled in case it ever needed to be relocated. As fate would have it, due to erosion of the beach in 1889, the lighthouse was moved inland 1 1/4 miles from its original site to where it presently stands.