Reopening of Hunting Island’s crown jewel coming into focus
By Linda Miller
Special to The Island News
In honor of National Lighthouse Day on Wednesday, Aug. 7, Hunting Island State Park and the Friends of Hunting Island would like to provide the community with some updates on our beloved Lighthouse. This iconic structure is the centerpiece of Hunting Island State Park, the most visited park in the South Carolina State Park System.
After closing to tours in early 2022 due to safety concerns, structural repairs and restoration work at the Hunting Island Lighthouse have started. Over the past two years, the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism has worked to secure funding and follow the state procurement process to select architects and restoration experts to manage this unique and specialized project.
Bennett Preservation Engineering is overseeing architecture and engineering, and Huss, Inc., is the project contractor. Their work requires extraordinary care to protect the historic millwork, structural wood, masonry, glass, ironwork, and distinctive decorative finishes. Much of their focus will be on stabilizing and strengthening the stair system; repairing, cleaning, and recoating the metal and iron elements of the structure; and repainting the interior and exterior of the lighthouse.
Visitors to Hunting Island will notice construction fencing and signage as crews begin working on interior repairs to the bracing, masonry, and coatings. Exterior work is expected to begin after the hurricane season. Barring any construction, weather, or supply delays, work is expected to be complete in late 2025, at which point a timeline for reopening the lighthouse to public tours will be determined.
In the meantime, Virtual Reality headsets are available in the park’s Visitor Center that simulate the climb to the top of the lighthouse and the sweeping views of the park and Atlantic Ocean from the watch deck.
The 1875 Fresnel Lense
Currently displayed in the base of the lighthouse is an 1875 Fresnel Lens of the largest 1st Order size. The lens was received by the State of South Carolina from the U. S. Coast Guard in 1962 and has been on display in the lighthouse since. Although some parts have gone missing over the years, it continues to be a centerpiece of the lighthouse experience for visitors to the park.
The lens was originally installed in the Charleston Lighthouse on Morris Island at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. In 1938, the lens was removed and stored at the Bureau of Lighthouses Lighthouse Depot in Charleston.
The lighthouse was downgraded due to the erosion of Morris Island, so the island could no longer support a lighthouse keeper staff. The lighthouse was automated with a smaller light requiring no keeper staff.
When the U.S. Coast Guard assumed responsibility for all U.S. lighthouses in 1939, the lens passed to the Coast Guard along with the Charleston Depot. In 1962, the State of South Carolina acquired the lens from the U.S. Coast Guard and placed it on display in the base of the Hunting Island Lighthouse.
In preparation for the Lighthouse restoration, the lens was disassembled in October 2023 and has been in storage awaiting completion of an updated design which was completed in May 2024 by Artworks Florida and Dan Spinella. The design specifications use modern materials (marine grade stainless steel) that will greatly reduce or eliminate the need for maintenance to ensure quality of sustainability to the weather elements.
Friends of Hunting Island has hired Pender Brothers of Port Royal to begin the construction phase of the newly designed frame. With a new support frame and a new exhibit building to put the lens in, the reassembly of the lens is in the final staging process.
How this final phase of the Hunting Island lens project will take place, and its location, has been a subject of much discussion between Hunting Island State Park and the Friends of Hunting Island and we are thrilled to showcase it early next year at the Lighthouse Complex, for the grand re-opening of the Hunting Island Lighthouse.
‘Up Here: The Hunting Island Lighthouse and its Lightkeepers’
Everything that the public loves about a lighthouse is exquisitely portrayed in “Up Here: The Hunting Island Lighthouse and its Lightkeepers.” This volume invites the reader on a journey of the mind and heart – one that entwines the past and present to tell a one-of-a-kind story sure to delight even the most casual reader.
According to Bob Trapani, Jr., Executive Director of the American Lighthouse Foundation, “‘Up Here: The Hunting Island Lighthouse and its Lightkeepers’ is a grand story about the life-changing power of light, historic engineering genius that endures, the benevolent service of lightkeepers and their families and a sparkling natural environment teeming with precious wildlife.
“Authors Theodore Panayotoff and Linda Miller have crafted the Hunting Island story in masterful fashion, while the stunning imagery throughout the book lends its own sense of wonderment to the volume. From a beckoning lighthouse to faithful guardians and precious shorebirds to an island’s glistening sands of time, Up Here: The Hunting Island Lighthouse and its Lightkeepers is a must-have.”
Book purchases benefit the Friends of Hunting Island and support the organization’s work at Hunting Island, to include the current restoration of the 1875 Fresnel Lens.
In honor of National Lighthouse Day, the Friends of Hunting Island are offering their just-released book at a 15% discount to all citizens who love the Hunting Island Lighthouse. The discount will be in effect through Thursday, Aug. 8.
The book, regularly $45, is available at https://bit.ly/4dlLITs.
Linda Miller is a longtime member and current President of the Friends of Hunting Island.
