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Lighthouse History
Built: 1881
Type: Metal Skeletal Tower
Height: 132 feet
Status: Destroyed
Deactivated: 1912
Location: SW tip of Parris
Island
Elevation: 120 feet
Lens: Steamer lens
Keepers:
Notes: The rear range light
was about two miles northwest of the front light. A keeper's house was
located on a causeway midway between the two lights.
In 1878, the U.S. Congress
authorized range lights on Parris Island. These were to be used with the
Hilton Head Range Lights to guide ships coming into Port Royal Sound.
The Rear Light was a 132
feet (40 m) tall triangular, iron skeletal tower, manufactured by the Cooper
Manufacturing of Mount Vernon, Ohio. John Michael Doyle, who was an employee
of the manufacturer, supervised the erection of the tower on a concrete
foundation. Doyle later supervised the erection of the shorter Bloody Point
Rear Range Light. He also became the first light keeper at Bloody Point.
A brick lamp house, which was also called a lens house, was built at the
base of the tower to house the lamp during the day. At night, the locomotive
or steamer lamp with parabolic reflector was raised on rails to a height
of 120 feet (37 m). The Parris Island Range Lights were lit on 1881.
A wooden walkway was built
to connect the lights. The keeper's house was built about midway between
the front and rear light. |