Hunting Island Lighthouse

Hunting Island Lighthouse, Beaufort, SC (postcard) c1890

Verso says:
A 95 foot tower was completed in 1859 to replace a lightship.  Destroyed by Confederate troops in 1862, another light was not built until 1875 about one miles inland due to erosion.

Learn more about the structure and its past uses on the Hunting Island State Park Lighthouse website at http://www.huntingisland.com/light.htm. 

Check out A Light on Treacherous Waters:The Story of the Hunting Island, South Carolina, Light Station, an award-winning documentary written and produced by Suzanne Larsen, in collaboration with Paul Keyserling, the Friends of Hunting Island Lighthouse, and WJWJ, c2001.  DVDs are available in the Local History sections (Call # 975.799 LIG)

Visit the BDC Research Room 10 am to 5 pm, Mondays through Fridays to see some of the many items that we hold in trust for the community. 

Polar Bears, Pelicans, and Half- Naked People

It seldom gets cold enough in coastal South Carolina to properly execute a true polar bear plunge but, hey, we try! If one is so inclined, (I most definitely am not!) here's a local option "jump-in-the-ocean" opportunity on New Year's Day 2012 for you to consider:

The 4th Annual Pelican Plunge co-sponsored by Hunting Island State Park and its Friends group with proceeds applied to supporting the "Discover SC" program.

Cheerleaders accepted!

Can't decide whether to take the plunge? Perhaps this 5:10 minute video of the 2011 Plunge posted by participant wmike83 will help you make up your mind.

Become a Local Heritage Tourist: Chapter 1 Hunting Island State Park and Lighthouse

Hunting Island State Park is "South Carolina’s single most popular state park, attracting more than a million human visitors a year." Among the non-human visitors are loggerhead turtles, painted buntings, alligators, pelicans, dolphins, deer, raccoons, and snakes. (No mention of UFOs or ghosts).

While many folks visit Hunting Island just for fun in the sand and surf, there are opportunities inside for local heritage tourists, too.

Climb the Lighthouse. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it's the only publicly accessible lighthouse in South Carolina. From the top, you can see for miles and miles.

Visit the lighthouse keeper's house to learn about his duties and challenges or register for the "Lighthouse Life" program.

Interested in how the coastal Indians lived 1500 years ago or more? Sign up for the SC Native Americans program.

Add a splash of eco-tourism/environmentalism by visiting the natural history exhibits and live animals near and in the Nature Center by the pier. Alligators, Sharks, Blue Crabs, Snakes, anyone? You can watch the rangers feed the animals, too.

Take a beach walk with a naturalist.

Hike one of the 8 trails.

For more details, schedules and fees, contact the Hunting Island State Park.
2555 Sea Island PKWY
Hunting Island,SC 29920
Phone: (843) 838-2011
Fax: (843) 838-4263

Enjoy a day being a local heritage tourist!

The Aerial image of the lighthouse is a photograph taken by the SCDAH for the National Register of Historic Places.

There's Still Time to Take The Plunge .. the Pelican Plunge

Hunting Island State Park and the Friends of Hunting Island offer you a third opportunity to experience the Lowcountry's version of the polar bear plunges.

Brave the cold.

Get invigorated.

Support the Discover Carolina program for our local schools.

Read more.

Pelican Plunge into the Atlantic Ocean Jan 1st

Want to get cold and wet on New Year's Day? If so, check out the 2nd Annual Pelican Plunge at Hunting Island State Park.

"People of the Light" on the County Channel

28 June 2024 - Jan Beaudrie of The County Channel confirmed that no known recording of the play exists in their archive. We do not have a copy here in the BDC Research Room. -- gmc 

"People of the Light," a play written by County PIO Suzanne Larson in honor of the 150th Anniversary of the Hunting Island Lighthouse will be shown on The County Channel, tonight at 8 p.m. with a reprise Sunday night at 8 p.m. You can also see and hear Dr. Larry Rowland, Professor Emeritus, USC-B talk about the history of the lighthouse during the broadcast.

The play stars County employees Dennis Adams (Library) and Christine Grefe (Solicitor) as well as Quentin Bell, the son of Belinda Green (Finance) who sings every year at our tree lighting ceremony. The play was funded through a grant from the S.C. Humanities Council and is based on the history of the Hunting Island Lighthouse. Grant advisors include Dennis Adams, Grace Cordial (Library) and Ian Hill (Planning).

The County Channel is a service of Beaufort County government. It is streamed on the home page of the County website, www.bcgov.net and broadcast on Charter Cable channel 20, Comcast Cable channel 2, Hargray Cable channel 252, Time Warner Cable Hilton Head Island channel 66 and Time Warner Cable Sun City channel 63.

The Beaufort County Library contains a number of materials on the subject of lighthouses, but the most interesting for us locals is the award winning documentary film, A light on treacherous waters : the story of the Hunting Island, South Carolina, Light Station produced by Larson. The video (call Number 387.1 LIG) is available at all our branch libraries in either/or VHS or DVD format.

Drop by the BDC to see these vertical files:
• Hunting Island – Lighthouse
• Lighthouses