Growing up in Charleston, SC was very enjoyable. The city is enriched with so much history that goes back to the founding of the colony city of Charles Town, now present day Charleston. As a child I remember many beach weekends going to Folly Beach. Before 1989 there was so much beach you felt like having to walk a mile before you could touch the water. After Hurricane Hugo in Sept of 1989, Folly Beach was washed out to sea. Even with all the beach renourishment projects completed since that time, there still is very little beach. While the hurricane was devastating to Folly Island, one thing did last, The Morris Island Lighthouse.
Morris Island light, built in 1876 (3rd version of the light, first appearing in 1673) was built surrounded by land to help aid ships entering Charleston Harbor; however, as time moved forward, Morris Island Light is now completely surrounded by water. Morris Island Light was used up until 1962, when the Lighthouse was decommissioned and moved to Sullivan's Island. The state sold it to a private owner, but now is owned by a local organization called. SaveTheLight which has worked with the Army Corps of Engineers to help stabilize the foundation so that it could outlive many more hurricanes.
As a kid, riding in the car from our home on James Island to Folly Beach you could always look out left window over the marsh and see the ominous shadow of a pillar reaching for the sky. Though it has lost all of its Black and White stripes, it is a haunting pillar of our past. Many artists have taken on this lighthouse, but for this painting the lighthouse isn't the main element, let it be the sky and reflection.
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