A Chronology of the Physical and Administrative Development of Castle Pinckney
March 2013
Compiled by Richard Dorrance
|
Year |
Development |
Source |
| 1805 | State of South Carolina conveys the property to the federal government. | Rogers Young* |
| ca 1807 | Jonathan Williams credited with designing Castle Williams and Castle Pinckney | David Weirick* |
| ca 1807 | First architectural drawings of the fort, undated. | David Weirick |
| late 1808 | Construction of the fort commences under direction of Major Alexander Macomb. | Rogers Young |
| Dec. 1809 | “…nearly completed.” | Rogers Young |
| 1810 | South side (curved) has eight casemates, powder magazine, powder room. North side (straight gorge wall) has four soldiers rooms, four officer’s quarters, Sallyport. Complete except parapet on the barbette tier. | Rogers Young |
| 1811 | Parapet completed, thirty guns mounted. | Rogers Young |
| 1811 | Statement that thirty guns were mounted is inaccurate based on design for nineteen guns. | David Weirick |
| 1818-1819 | Garrisoned. | Rogers Young |
| 1821 | Drawings of the fort. | David Weirick |
| 1811-1831 | No new construction, basic maintenance. | Rogers Young |
| 1818 | Report of thirty guns mounted. | David Weirick |
| 1830s | Fort not garrisoned until 1830s. | David Weirick |
| 1831 | Dated, most informative early drawings of the fort. | David Weirick |
| 1833 | Battery of 24 pounders installed. Palisade outside gorge wall constructed. | Rogers Young |
| 1833 | Drawing shows four guns in casemates, four guns enbarbette, and eighteen guns mounted on the large palisade wall. | David Weirick |
| 1833 | Drawing shows five outbuildings constructed outside gorge wall but inside palisade: hospital, workshop, guardhouse. | David Weirick |
| 1834 | Ordnance consists of two 5 1\2 inch brass howitzers, two 24 pounder iron howitzers, and one 10 inch seacoast mortar. Post hospital. | Rogers Young |
| 1839, 1846 | Drawings showing improvements to fort, most of which were not constructed. | David Weirick |
| 1841 | Drawings showing excellent detail, very informative about conditions of the site at that time. | David Weirick |
| 1836-1860 | Ungarrisoned. | Rogers Young |
| 1854 | Wharf destroyed by storm. | |
| 1855 | Installation of fifty foot tall light tower with 5th order Fresnel lens. | Rogers Young |
| 1850s | Powder storehouse for the City Arsenal. | Rogers Young |
| 1857 | Wharf rebuilt, riprap with flagging stone to base of fort walls installed, boathouse constructed, new shot furnace, repairs to barracks and quarters. | David Weirick |
| 1858 | Repointing and whitewashing of walls, repairs to casemates, more work on barracks. | David Weirick |
| 1860 | Repairs. Ordnance consists of fourteen 24 pounders, four 42 pounders, four 8 inch seacoast mortars, one 10 inch mortar and one 8 inch mortar, four light artillery pieces. | Rogers Young |
| 1860 | Repairs, including to palisade and cisterns. | David Weirick |
| 1861 | Some ordnance removed. | Rogers Young |
| 1861 | Used as prison. Rear opening of casemates bricked up, then reopened. | David Weirick |
| Sep. 1862 | Ordnance consists of three 24 pounders in casemates, six 24 pounders and one 24 pounder rifled cannon en barbette. | Rogers Young |
| Apr. 1864-Jan. 1865 | Interior and exterior walls buried in sand to protect from shelling and to provide a new rampart with merlons, traverses, and gun emplacements. | Rogers Young |
| 1863 | Drawings show proposed conversion to earthwork and barbette battery, with buried tunnels. | David Weirick |
| 1864-1865 | Part of barracks demolished. Earthworks continues. | David Weirick |
| 1865-1878 | Uneventful. | Rogers Young |
| 1867-1868 | Again used as prison. | David Weirick |
| 1870-1876 | Used as War Dept ordnance storehouse and navigation light. | David Weirick |
| 1878 | Transferred to Dept of Treasury Lighthouse Board. | Rogers Young |
| 1880 | New harbor light installed on the pierhead (wharf) at the south end of the island. | Rogers Young |
| 1880-1882 | Construction of storehouse and Keeper’s Quarters inside the walls. Begins function as supply depot. | Rogers Young |
| 1884 | Fort in poor condition, with magazine roofs (casemates ?) caving in, walls settled and cracked, barracks deteriorated, wood building north of fort poor condition. | Rogers Young |
| 1901 | Drawing. Remainder of barracks demolished; more of interior filled with sand; concrete cap installed on fill; new keepers quarters, store house, and rail line constructed out to wharf; Sally port still open; buildings outside fort demolished. | David Weirick |
| 1911 | Pier head light rebuilt. | Rogers Young |
| 1917 | Lighthouse Board ends operations and reverts to War Dept. Light is automated. Keepers quarters demolished and replaced with smaller residence. | Rogers Young |
| 1917-1936 | Engineers supply depot. | Rogers Young |
| 1924 | Declared a National Monument by President Coolidge. Under control of War Dept. | Rogers Young |
| 1929 | List of existing structures: Keepers quarters 35’ by 37’; brick storehouse 39’ by 100’; wood building with piazza 19’ by 20’; wood building 18’ by 31’, destroyed 1929; wood building 32’ by 66’ on wharf approach; wharf with 300’ approach and 150’ wide at head; 600 tons of newly installed riprap. | David Weirick |
| 1933 | Transferred to National Park Service. Still functions as Engineers supply depot. Pierhead light rebuilt. | Rogers Young |
| 1938 | Publication of first scholarly study of the site by Rogers Young. | David Weirick |
| 1938-1956 | Army engineers supply depot. | David Weirick |
| 1957 | Transferred from Park Service to General Services Administration. | David Weirick |
| 1958 | Sold to State Ports Authority (SPA) for $12,000. | David Weirick |
| 1964-1965 | SPA deeds property to South Carolina Shriners, for use as retreat for crippled children. This is unconfirmed. | Christopher Ziegler* |
| 1967 | Fire destroys most buildings. | David Weirick |
| 1968 | Sold to Fort Sumter Camp (FSC) 1269, Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV). | David Weirick |
| 1978 | Publication of archeological assessment, funded by FSC, SCV. | David Weirick |
| 1984 | Site returned to SPA. | David Weirick |
| 2011 | Site and Castle Pinckney re-sold to FSC 1269, SCV. | David Weirick |
Young, Rogers W. 1936. Castle Pinckney: Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. National Park Service, Fort Pulaski National Monument.
*Weirick, David. 2012. Castle Pinckney: Past, Present, Future. A thesis presented to The Graduate Schools of Clemson University and College of Charleston. Masters of Science in Historic Preservatio.
*Ziegler, Christopher T. 2007. The Origins and Development of America’s Forgotten Castle: Castle Pinckney. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in Public History in the Department of History, University of South Carolina.