Hunting Island’s Little Blue: A structure gone, a ‘memory’ never forgotten

“Little Blue,” what until recently was the last cottage standing on the southern end of Hunting Island, has been torn down.

Dawn Dawson-House, spokesperson for S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, confirmed the cottage’s demolition Friday morning.

The cottage, which stood on pilings and hovered over the Atlantic Ocean, survived October’s brush with Hurricane Matthew, even though its fate was already sealed. In September, State Park Service director Phil Gaines told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette that Little Blue would be demolished before the end of 2016.

While the demolition was delayed to this month, the approximately 600- to 700-square-foot cottage — built in 2003 to replace a larger home lost to erosion — has finally been removed.

On Thursday, Jonathan Wilson, who was fishing near Hunting Island, took a picture of excavators working near the cottage. Wilson said that the cabin was demolished moments after he took the photo.

Charles Steinmeyer, whose mother, Sara, owns the cottage, told the newspapers in September 2016 that the family was notified earlier that year of plans to tear down Little Blue. The family considers it state property now, Steinmeyer said.

The final family outing at the cottage was for Fourth of July in 2009. The structure was cleared out and abandoned in 2010.

This story will be updated.

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This story was originally published February 17, 2017 at 9:43 AM with the headline "Hunting Island’s Little Blue: A structure gone, a ‘memory’ never forgotten."