CWPT Is Raising $100,000 For Its Share Of Morris Island Preservation
By Kathryn Jorgensen
(September 2008 Civil War News)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Preservation of Morris Island, the Charleston Harbor island memorialized in “Glory” as the site of the black 54th Massachusetts Regiment attack on Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863, is assured. But the bill for it has to be paid.

The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) recently launched a campaign to raise the $100,000 it has committed toward the $3 million purchase of the island’s north end, the 117-acre Cummings Point which is closely associated with the Civil War.

“This amazing success at Morris Island is definitely cause to celebrate,” said CWPT president James Lighthizer in a statement. “Members of this coalition have traveled a long road together to get to this point, carefully monitoring the situation at this unique and irreplaceable historic site.”

Slade Gleaton, the Trust for Public Land (TPL) South Carolina director, said the balance of the $3 million includes $258,000 from the City of Charleston; $1.5 million from the South Carolina Conservation Bank; $1 million from the State Ports Authority; and $142,000, for which the TPL will fundraise.

“We really appreciated the amount of collaboration and partnership, especially with the Civil War Preservation Trust,” said Gleaton. “They really came through at the end and helped get across the finish line of $3 million.”

CWPT spokesman Jim Campi added that the Ginn Company, the firm that bought the 117-acre property in 2006 for luxury home and resort development, contributed to its preservation by taking a $1.5 million loss when selling it to the conservation groups.

The deal was finalized on May 30 when representatives of all of the parties involved gathered on Morris Island.
“The committed volunteers who fought for this hallowed ground have become the new heroes of Morris Island,” Lighthizer said. “Without them, the land on which many men, both white and black, fought and died upon would be lost forever.”

The state owns the southern section of the 840-acre island where dredged sand from the harbor channel is dumped. The recently purchased tract was given to the city. All but 2.5 acres of the island are now publicly owned and protected, Gleaton said.

The Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission has completed a study and will finalize details for public access. Gleaton said all parties agreed that they wanted no future development and some public access so “people can continue to visit [by boat only] and learn about the history.

The Civil War part of that history includes the famous “Swamp Angel,” the 8-inch Parrott Rifle that fired on Charleston from a battery built in the salt marsh between Morris Island and James Island.

The rifle fired 200-pound shells and itself weighed 16,300 pounds. It burst on the 36th shot and ended up in Trenton, N.J., where it is displayed.

Battery Gregg, which fired on Fort Sumter, remains, while some of the other sites were lost to erosion over the past 145 years.

In looking back over the effort to save this historic north end of Morris Island Campi recounted how preservationists became alarmed in 2003 when they learned that a developer planned to build 20 luxury residences.

The Morris Island Coalition was formed in 2004 and began what Campi called a public awareness campaign to educate the people about the site’s unique history.

A year later 77 percent of voters in a public opinion poll opposed the development and 71 percent said they would favorite a permanent ban on developing the island.

CWPT twice listed Morris Island among the 10 most endangered battlefields in the country, drawing the attention of national media to the site. “Caving to public pressure, the island’s initial owner sold the land in late 2005, when it was purchased by the Ginn Company,” Campi said.

The opponents didn’t let up. Ginn Company was soon looking into preservation options and then began long negotiations ending with the sale to the Trust for Public Land.