Hunting Island fixture with gorgeous view, deemed unsafe, getting $3.2M fix
Zabo McCants has been to the top of New York City’s Empire State building. But to McCants, staring out over the Atlantic Ocean on a clear day from the edge of the United States at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina, is no less impressive, especially at sunrise. There’s something about knowing there’s another continent on the other side of the great body of water.
McCants and thousands of others have savored that very view from the park’s famed 136-foot-tall lighthouse, which has stood watch over the South Carolina Lowcountry for nearly 150 years. During that time, it’s become as much of a fixture on the Lowcountry landscape as the Empire State Building is in Midtown Manhattan.
“It might not be quite as high,” McCants says, “but the skyline is just as beautiful.”
But time, salt water, moisture and the tens of thousands of people who have climbed its 167 steps to top have taken their toll.
Much to the disappointment of its legion of fans, the legendary lighthouse went dark in February 2022, when the state’s parks department closed it to the public after deeming it unsafe because of cracks and corrosion in its bricks and cast-iron staircase. Hunting Island State Park attracts more 1 million visitors a year, making it the state’s most popular, and the lighthouse, which is featured on one state license plate design, is one of the central attractions.
Now the lighthouse in the state’s most popular state park is undergoing a $3.2 million project to restore the historic lighthouse and the stunning views. Preliminary work recently started with the erection of scaffolding that will be necessary to complete the restoration. Doors will open again to visitors in late 2025, McCants said.
Of particular concern was the condition of the cast-iron stairs. The stairs are being repaired and stabilized but a broader restoration will include a new paint job, replacement of the glass in the lantern room and new railing on the observation deck.
“It will reopen to the public and I think that’s huge considering the numbers in 2021,” McCants said.
Gorgeous views draw visitors
Before it closed in early 2022, the number of visitors who climbed the lighthouse’s 167 steps annually to enjoy the 360-degree views of the Atlantic Ocean and the landscape ranged between 7,000 to 15,000.
“It’s gorgeous — breathtaking,” says McCants. “To be able to see the sunrise come up across the Atlantic Ocean, the birth of the day, is a sight to see.”
For 149 years, the black and white landmark has towered over the maritime forest and stared across the Atlantic. For 60 of those years — it was decommissioned in 1933 after modern navigational improvements made it obsolete — its powerful light illuminated the waters 17 miles from shore and kept mariners from running aground on shallow shoals. Its light still shines across the water from dusk until dawn — 4 seconds on, followed by 30 seconds off. But its reach is now 5 miles instead of the original 17. And its powered by electricity and an LED light instead of oil that a keeper once carried daily up 167 steps.
Ever since the lighthouse closed, State Parks has been fielding calls from the public on when it would reopen and why it has taken this long to repair it, McCants said.
Charleston preservation company goes to work
The intricacy of the work is one reason it is just now getting underway, says McCants. The lighthouse is on the list of National Register of Historic Places, he notes, and the restoration must follow strict historic guidelines.
The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1875 after another lighthouse, constructed in 1859, was destroyed during the Civil War. It was constructed of interchangeable cast-iron sections, with the unique feature allowing it to be dismantled should it ever need to be moved. In fact, severe beach erosion made a move necessary and the lighthouse was relocated 1.3 miles inland in 1889.
Charleston-based Bennett Preservation Engineering was awarded the contract to fix the lighthouse in May. Securing the $3.2 million in state funding and the COVID-19 pandemic were two additional factors in why it took 2 1/2 years to begin the restoration, McCants said.
Work was delayed when the park closed due to Tropical Storm Debby last week, but it reopened Saturday and scaffolding for the interior of the lighthouse and other items have since been delivered.
This story was originally published August 13, 2024 at 12:47 PM.
