Charles Pinckney National Historic Site

My next stop on our February 2021 trip to Charleston was to the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site at Snee Farm northeast of Charleston in Mt Pleasant.

Charles Pinckney was born on October 26, 1757, the eldest son of Colonel Charles and Frances Brewton Pinckney. Born into a prominent, wealthy family in South Carolina, he was elected as a delegate to the Third Continental Congress of 1777-1778. After serving in Congress, Pinckney returned to the Charleston area and obtained a commission as a lieutenant in the South Carolina militia. After serving in the siege of Savannah in the autumn of 1779, his unit returned to the defense of Charleston. When Charleston fell on May 12, 1780, Pinckney was captured and held as a prisoner for over a year before a prisoner exchange was implemented, possibly in Philadelphia. Returning to South Carolina in 1783, Pinckney was elected to the Continental Congress and served from 1784 to 1787. 

Selected as one of four delegates from South Carolina to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Pinckney tooke the floor over 100 times during the convention. According to the biography of Pinckney posted on the website of the historic site

scholars today attribute approximately 28 clauses to Pinckney. His major contributions were:

The elimination of religious testing as a qualification to office.

The division of the Legislature into House and Senate. 

The power of impeachment being granted only to the House.

The establishment of a single chief executive, who will be called President.

The power of raising an army and navy being granted to Congress.

The prohibition of states to.enter into a treaty or to establish interfering duties.

The regulation of interstate and foreign commerce being controlled by the national government.

Further contributions Pinckney made to the Convention and the Constitution may never be known, but it is obvious he contributed significantly to the proceedings, earning the nickname "Constitution Charlie".

Returning to South Carolina, Pinckney worked to get the new US Constitution ratified. He was elected governor four times and also served in the legislature for many years. In addition, he was appointed to  an unexpired term in the US Senate, but he resigned before the term ended to become the Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain in 1801. After retiring from public life in 1814, Pinckney was persuaded to run for US Congress in 1818 and won a seat in the Sixteenth Congress (1819-1821). He retired from politics entirely in 1821 and died in Charleston on October 29, 1824.

Through inheritance and marriage, Pinckney owned three rice plantations and two homes in Charleston. He also owned over 150 slaves to work the plantations. Snee Farm was the smallest of his plantations, but still utilized 40 slaves. None of the original buildings have survived, and the vast majority of the 715-acre plantation has been converted into residential subdivisions and a private country club. The remaining 28½ acres includes the sites of the main house as well as at least some of the slave quarters. A short nature trail leads through the woods to a boardwalk near the headwaters of Boone Hall Creek and continues on to the site of some of the slave quarters.

Pinckney’s home and out buildings at Snee Farm were damaged, possibly by one or more hurricanes, in the early 1800s. According to an onsite educational exhibit entitled Archeology, “It is believed that when William Matthews purchased Snee Farm in 1828, he tore down the damaged buildings and built the present house, which stands on the same site as Pinckney’s.”

Where known, the foundations of former outbuildings are outlined in brick.

Visitor Center

Picnic pavilion at the visitor center with more picnic tables on the lawn

View of the house from the visitor center

Camellia in bloom

Rear of the house

Side wing of the house

Path continues past the house toward Boone Hall Creek

An educational exhibit showing how rice fields were flooded

Path through the woods

A bench has been placed at the beginning of the boardwalk

View downstream

End of the boardwalk

Another bench

View from the bench

Wet ground

Another boardwalk

Not solid enough to walk, nor wet enough to paddle

Some of the large trees on the site

A bench sits in the middle of the former slave quarters

There was no indication how many slaves might have lived in a structure this size

More outlines

The sign notes that the slave community expanded well past the limits of the historic site

Spanish moss on live oaks

The historic road on the site

Front of the house

More spanish moss

Another view of the house with a nearby outbuilding

The restrooms and grounds at Charles Pinckney National Historic Site are open Wednesday through Sunday, 9 am - 5 pm. The historic house is open Friday - Sunday, 9 am - 5 pm.  The park is closed on Monday and Tuesday. There is no entrance fee at the site.

The park website is https://www.nps.gov/chpi/index.htm.

Fort Sumter - Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park

 

Construction of Fort Sumter began in 1829, but it was still a work in progress when the American Civil war started. Although the exterior wall was complete and stood about 50 feet high, much of the interior was incomplete including gun placements.

Early on the morning of April 12, 1861, the first shots of the Civil War were fired from Fort Johnson toward Fort Sumter at the entrance to Charleston Harbor. The South Carolina militia barrage lasted for 34 hours before US Major Robert Anderson agreed to evacuate, not surrender, the fort.

It was almost two years later on April 7, 1863 when the Union amassed a small fleet and unsuccessfully attempted to take Charleston Harbor. In early September 1863, the Union launched a disastrous attempt to retake the fort. From then until the end of the war, Union guns continued to pummel the fort sporadically thus reducing its height by about half. After the war, the ruins of the fort served as an unmanned lighthouse station until 1897. In response to the Spanish-American War, a concrete blockhouse was built in 1898 and named Battery Huger. The battery was deactivated in 1947 and the fort was transferred to the National Park Service in 1948.

Fort Sumter Tours, a National Park Service concessionaire, operates boats from Liberty Square to Fort Sumter and from Patriots Point to Fort Sumter. Visitors will spend approximately one hour at the fort before heading back to the boat. An Adult ticket for the tour is $30.

I visited the fort on a foggy day during our February 2021 visit to Charleston.

Castle Pinckney through the fog

Approaching Fort Sumter

At the dock

Entry platform

Ruins of the fort from atop Battery Huger

Parade grounds and dock

View through the open sallyport amidst the casemates

Mountain Howitzer

Some of the New England granite used as a foundation for the fort

Cosmetically restored cannon mounted in its casemate

Another view

View down the gallery

An example of a howitzer

Unrestored cannon

Tight quarters between Battery Huger and the casemates

The ruins from the Civil War were never rebuilt

The gallery and most of the casemates in this area were destroyed leaving only the embrasures

Detail of a destroyed casemate

The north face of Battery Huger

10-inch Mortar

Battery Huger

Ruins of barracks and storage rooms

Rock used as a breakwater to stabilize the fort foundation

Visitor Center

Admission to Fort Sumter is free. However, a fee is charged by the concessionaire operating the ferry from the visitor center at Liberty Square or Patriots Point to Fort Sumter.

The park website is https://nps.gov/fosu/index.htm.

Fort Moultrie - Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park

 

Our trip to Charleston continued with a stop at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island. The fort is the third on the site since 1776 built to defend the harbor of Charleston.  At the beginning of the Spanish-American War in 1898, two modern concrete bunkhouse structures, Battery Bingham and Battery McCorkle were quickly constructed inside Fort Moultrie. Battery Jasper was constructed just east of the fort. The army ceased operations at the fort in 1947 and turned it over to the National Park Service in 1960. At the time of our visit in February 2021, the interior of the fort was closed for renovations and the visitor center across the street was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Visitor entrance

A glimpse inside

Visitor center from the fort

A wheelchair accessible ramp avoids these stairs

Picnic table near the visitor center parking lot

A buoyant mine

Park headquarters was formerly the torpedo storehouse

Masonry exterior north wall of the fort

Visitor tour entrance when the fort is open

Slanted west exterior wall

Mouth of Charleston Harbor

Fort Sumter

Cannon visible above the fort wall

Southeast side of the fort

Another cannon

A sidewalk instead of a trail

Revolutionary War era cannon

An observation post for Battery Bingham and Battery McCorkle

A former entryway has been bricked up

An entry fee of $10 for a seven-day adult pass is collected at Fort Moultrie. Credit or debit cards are accepted, cash is not accepted at this location. Interagency America the Beautiful passes are also accepted.

The park website is https://www.nps.gov/fosu/index.htm.