
Sapelo Island Lighthouse Sapelo Island Georgia

by Dawna Moore Photography
Title
Sapelo Island Lighthouse Sapelo Island Georgia
Artist
Dawna Moore Photography
Medium
Photograph - Nature And Travel Photography
Description
"Confederate forces removed the lens from Sapelo Island Lighthouse before the Union Army occupied the island in 1862. Spalding had constructed a plantation mansion called "South End House" on the island in 1809. Although Thomas Spalding passed away in 1851, his son continued to live in the mansion until being forced to flee to the mainland by the advancing Union troops.
Following the war, the Lighthouse Board noted the following for the station on Sapelo Island: "The tower and other buildings, much injured by the rebels, need extensive repairs." The keeper's dwelling was almost entirely rebuilt, except for the walls, and a new lantern room and lens were placed atop the tower, which also received a new door and window frames. The light returned to service on the evening of April 15, 1868, along with a beacon mounted on a fifty-foot frame tower located 660 feet southeast of the lighthouse. The beacon's tower was placed on a 100-foot tramway so it could be easily moved to track changes in the offshore channel.
Several free slaves returned to the island after the war and established a settlement on 434 acres deeded to them by the Spaldings. The settlement was named Hog Hammock, after Sampson Hog who served as caretaker for Spalding's hogs." (lighthousefriends.com)
Uploaded
March 15th, 2015
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