The evening of Thursday, Jan. 16, saw the Sunrise Presbyterian Church sanctuary nearly filled as Battery Gadsden Cultural Center presented its first program of the year. The speaker, National Park Service Ranger Shelby McAllister, detailed the history of Charleston’s various navigational lights that have guided ships into the harbor for centuries. While McAllister covered earlier lighthouses—including the Morris Island Lighthouse—and various range lights and other navigational aids, it was clear the crowd was there to hear about Sullivan’s Island’s own iconic structure, officially known as the Charleston Light.
McAllister, a native of Iowa and "virtually a child of the cornfield," as she describes herself, graduated from Simpson College with a degree in education and a minor in history. She soon discovered that classroom teaching was not for her. Thanks to an internship at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, she found her true calling with the National Park Service. After working at Shiloh National Military Park and Lincoln’s Home in Springfield, Illinois, she has spent nearly three years at Fort Sumter–Fort Moultrie National Historical Park. Over time, she has fallen in love with the Charleston area’s rich history, particularly its maritime heritage, including the lighthouses that have stood above the water and the German U-boats that once prowled beneath it.
McAllister’s account of the Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse fascinated the audience for many reasons. Completed in 1962, it was the last lighthouse built by the federal government and was intended to replace the Morris Island Light, which—due to erosion caused by the Charleston jetties—ended up thousands of feet out in the Atlantic. The structure’s designer, Jack Graham, was an architect on active duty with the Coast Guard when he was asked to submit a design for consideration. Graham had left the Coast Guard before a final decision was made and was unaware his design had been chosen until he read about the new Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse in a boating magazine. Years later, Graham returned to Sullivan’s Island before his death in 2022 to be honored as the designer of what has become the island’s most iconic landmark.
But why a triangular shape? As McAllister explained, Graham studied under renowned architect Louis Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania. Kahn was a strong proponent of the triangle as a design element, and Graham incorporated this concept into the lighthouse. He also believed the aerodynamic shape would help the structure withstand strong winds—a theory that was proven correct when Hurricane Hugo caused only minor damage to the tower.
Island natives in the audience recalled that when the lighthouse was first illuminated in 1962, it was the second brightest light in the Western Hemisphere, with 28 million candlepower, turning many island bedrooms from night into day. After repeated complaints, the light was reduced to 1.2 million candlepower and has continued to be dimmed by the Coast Guard as modern navigation technology has made lighthouses less essential.
Longtime residents also remembered that the lighthouse was originally painted red and white. However, after the red faded to an unsightly pink, the color scheme was changed to its current black and white. Other unique features of the lighthouse include its aluminum skin—the only one of its kind—air conditioning, and an elevator. The Sullivan’s Island Lighthouse was transferred to the National Park Service in 2007 and is now part of Fort Sumter–Fort Moultrie National Historical Park.
The most common question among those who attended the presentation? When will the lighthouse reopen to visitors, as it once did in the past? According to McAllister, significant deterioration must be addressed before the structure is safe for public access. While the park hopes to secure funding for the necessary repairs, the cost is substantial. Unfortunately, visitors shouldn’t expect to take in the panoramic view from the top of the 140-foot tower anytime soon.
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