Fort Ripley Shoal Light, Navigation lighthouse in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.
Fort Ripley Shoal Light was a screw-pile lighthouse erected in 1878 near the submerged remains of Fort Ripley on the Middle Ground shoal in Charleston Harbor. It was dismantled in 1932, and a larger skeleton tower now stands on the same site, displaying three lights at 166, 170 and 50 feet to guide ships through the harbor approaches.
A screw-pile lighthouse was erected in 1878 a short distance from the submerged remains of Fort Ripley, the Civil War fort built on an artificial island on the Middle Ground shoal, to mark the shoal for ships entering Charleston harbor. Little of its history is recorded. It was deactivated and dismantled in 1932, and a much larger skeleton tower was built on the same site to replace the old rear light of the Fort Sumter Range.
The name Middle Ground comes from the shoal between the forked channels, where Fort Ripley stood on an artificial island during the Civil War before collapsing beneath the waves. Charts now mark the spot only with a daymark and submerged rocks. The 1878 screw-pile light was replaced in 1932 by a skeleton tower serving the Fort Sumter Range, still unnamed on charts.
The lighthouse is visible from the water and can be observed from boat tours exploring Charleston Harbor. The best view of the structure is from the harbor side.
The 1878 screw-pile light stood near the drowned remains of Fort Ripley, a Civil War fort built on an artificial island in the Middle Ground shoal; the fort has since collapsed beneath the waves, marked only by a daymark and submerged rocks on nautical charts. The 1932 skeleton tower that replaced the range's rear light is unnamed on charts and carries three lights, two at 166 and 170 feet for the range aspects and one at 50 feet for passing ships.
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