Sullivan's Island, South Carolina: Mortar Fort Prisoner Pit

Ft. Moultrie has a history dating back to the Revolutionary War. Edgar Allen Poe was stationed there for a while. The visitor's center charges a $5 per family entry fee. Federal Lands pass is accepted.

This entire area comprises "Fort Moultrie." A military emplacement active during the Revolutionary War, War between the States, WWs I and II. The "pits" (God help me) were long range artillery mounts.

Having read the tip on the "Prisoner Pits" of Sullivan's Island, I realized that someone was pulling his leg. There are several pits on that hill and they are (now) fenced off, but everything else is incorrect. The "caves" as we call them, were built as part of the coastal defenses of Charleston and housed "disappearing guns" which would fire over the top of the hill towards the harbor and then "disappear" into the pit when they recoiled. The hill is manmade, the pits are lined with concrete (where are you going to find granite slabs 40 feet tall in Charleston?), and are connected by a series of tunnels. Safety concerns, teenage parties, and vandalism caused them to be fenced off about ten years ago.

The prisoner pit that wrote you about is not a revolutionary prison, but a coastal fortification built after the civil war for housing large mortars. The entance is on the side away from the park. Bring a flashlight. The town library is located in a old battery and some old gun emplacements have been converted into houses.

Throughout Sullivan Island can be found remains of old fortifications, including Fort Moutrie. Fort moutrie is a national monument that originated during the revolutionary war, but was upgraded during and after the civil war. Looking out from the battlements of Fort Moutrie you can seee Fort Sumter (wHere the civil war started) and Patriots Point (the largest naval museum in the country).

Near Charleston, South Carolina, on Sullivan's Island, is a park with a large hill full of bamboo trees. If you walk up on of the paths on the hill (they are steep, be careful), there is a fenced off pit where soldiers at Fort Moultrie kept redcoat prisoners during the Revolutionary War. It is surrounded by steep, granite walls that nobody could climb. If someone attempted to, a guard on the watchtower would shoot the prisoner to death. There is a tunnel somewhere that leads you to the inside of the pit. Further down the road is Fort Moultrie, where they used to have a bunch of tunnels open, but they are now closed. If you were with a group, and left them behind, it would take you 20 minutes to find them!