A reader sent in this phenomenal photo showing a South Carolina scene. Where is it? For bonus points, identify the particular event for this scene. Send your best guess to feedback@statehousereport.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our previous Mystery Photo
Our Feb. 28 image, “Historic photo,” showed the ruins of the Charleston Lighthouse on Morris Island in 1863. The photo was from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The Smithsonian Institution recently released millions of old pictures for public use and available for download through its website.
Congratulations to those who recognized the image: Charles Davis of Aiken; George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Jay Altman of Columbia; and Philip Cromer of Beaufort.
Altman wrote: “This is an observation tower built in the 1860’s on the ruins of the Morris Island lighthouse. Confederate troops destroyed the lighthouse in 1862 to prevent Union troops from using it as an observation post. Union troops occupied Morris Island in 1863, and built this observation tower.”
Graf shared this info, according to onlyinyourstate.com: “At least four light structures have been built on Morris Island, but it’s likely there were a total of five. The one shown was erected [in 1863] during the Civil War on top of the remains of the light destroyed by the government. It was an effort to destroy all lights along the southeast coast at the start of the Civil War to prevent Confederate troops from getting control over the lights.
“The Union troops reported the Morris Island Light totally destroyed in 1862. Just prior to that, the lighthouse keeper was reportedly banished and ordered to leave the state entirely. Technically, the first navigational assistance was placed on Morris Island in 1673. It was a simple raised metal pan, filled with pitch and set afire at night. In 1767, the first light structure was erected. It was 40-feet tall.”
Send us a mystery: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!