Sullivan's Island, South Carolina
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Sullivan's Island lighthouse |
Sullivan's Island is an island in
Charleston County,
South Carolina, a the entrance to Charleston Harbor. The population was 1,911 at the 2000 census. It is also the sight of a major battle of the American Revolution at Fort Sullivan (Now
Fort Moultrie) on June 28, 1776. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Sullivans Island is included within the Charleston-North Charleston Urbanized Area and the larger Charleston-North Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Sullivan's Island is located at (32.763456, -79.837911).
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 8.6
km² (3.3
mi²). 6.3 km² (2.4 mi²) of it is land and 2.3 km² (0.9 mi²) of it (27.11%) is water.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 1,911 people, 797 households, and 483 families residing in the town. The
population density was 303.6/km² (787.2/mi²). There were 1,045 housing units at an average density of 166.0/km² (430.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.74%
White, 0.63%
African American, 0.05%
Native American, 0.16%
Asian, and 0.42% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 0.84% of the population.
There were 797 households out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were
married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.3% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the town the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 31.0% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 100.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $72,955, and the median income for a family was $96,455. Males had a median income of $58,571 versus $41,029 for females. The
per capita income for the town was $49,427. About 1.4% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 2.2% of those under age 18 and 0.9% of those age 65 or over.
The island was known as O'Sullivan's Island from an early date, because of the Irishman who was stationed as a lighthouse keeper in the late seventeenth century. The island was completely denuded in order to distinguish the approach to Charleston Harbor.
On
28 June,
1776, a makeshift log fort was held by colonial forces against a sustained siege and bombardment by British forces under Lord Cornwallis attempting to enter the harbor to besiege and conquer the City of Charleston. The palmetto logs used in the construction proved to be remarkably spongy and absorbed the cannon balls. The Battle of Fort Moultrie was commemorated by the addition of a white palmetto tree to the blue and white crescent moon flag of South Carolina. The victory is still celebrated every June 28th, known as Carolina day.
The history of the island has been dominated by the extensive coastal defenseworks known as
Fort Moultrie, which served as the base of command for the defenses of the City of Charleston until it was closed in the late 1940's.
Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie from
1827 to
1828. The island was the setting of his short story
The Gold Bug.
For most of its history, the town on the island was known as Moultrieville, on the south-west half of the island. Another community on the north-east portion, Atlanticville, was established and later merged to form the Town of Sullivan's Island.
The Sullivan's Island lighthouse, the most powerful in the world, was built in
1962. The 140-foot-tall triangular building boasts an elevator instead of the typical spiral staircase.
