page_title: Fort Sumter Range Lights
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Sumter Range Lights / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Beacon on parapet of Fort Sumter (Charleston County, South Carolina) - cropped This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cwpb.02304.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information. العربية&#160;| беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎&#160;| čeština&#160;| Deutsch&#160;| English&#160;| español&#160;| فارسی&#160;| suomi&#160;| français&#160;| עברית&#160;| magyar&#160;| italiano&#160;| lietuvių&#160;| македонски&#160;| മലയാളം&#160;| Nederlands&#160;| polski&#160;| português&#160;| português do Brasil&#160;| русский&#160;| sicilianu&#160;| slovenčina&#160;| slovenščina&#160;| Türkçe&#160;| українська&#160;| 中文&#160;| 中文（简体）‎&#160;| 中文（繁體）‎&#160;| +/− This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer. You must also include a United States public domain tag to indicate why this work is in the public domain in the United States.&#160;Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Jamaica has 95 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may not be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do not implement the rule of the shorter term. Côte d'Ivoire has a general copyright term of 99 years and Honduras has 75 years, but they do implement the rule of the shorter term. Copyright may extend on works created by French who died for France in World War II (more information), Russians who served in the Eastern Front of World War II (known as the Great Patriotic War in Russia) and posthumously rehabilitated victims of Soviet repressions (more information). This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.
context_page_description: The Fort Sumter Range Lights are range lights to guide ships through the main channel of the Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The original front light was built at Fort Sumter and the original rear light was in the steeple of St. Philip's Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Both lights were lit from 1893 to 1915 to make range lights. Today the Fort Sumter Range is the main approach channel to Charleston Harbor.
  Fort Sumter, which was the site of the first battle of the Civil War, is now a National Monument. St. Philip's is a National Historic Landmark that was built in 1836.
context_section_description: The front light at Fort Sumter completed in 1857.  The front light was a white, fifth order Fresnel lens. The station was destroyed during the Civil War. A temporary light with a steamer lens was in place after the war ended and Fort Sumter was reoccupied by federal troops. Later the light was rebuilt. With little chance of war, this lighthouse was the major activity at Fort Sumter from 1876 to 1898. 
  In 1893, the front light was destroyed by a hurricane. The tower was replaced with a light green metal skeletal tower. The fog signal was a bell mechanically struck with a double blow every 15 s. After the rear light was extinguished in 1915, a radio beacon was added. The radio beacon was moved to Sullivan's Island lifesaving station in 1950. The light was deactivated in the early 1950s.
  The rear range light was a white lantern in the steeple of St. Philip's Church in Charleston that was lit in 1893. The height of the lantern was 140 feet (43 m). The Annual Report of the Light-House Board reported that the electric apparatus for lighting the gas burner in the locomotive headlight was repaired in 1901. This light was removed in 1915.
caption: Temporary beacon set up after the Civil War
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