The Bloody Point Range Lights, which is known as the Bloody Point Lighthouse, were

range light Leading lights (also known as range lights in the United States) are a pair of light beacons used in navigation to indicate a safe passage for vessels entering a shallow or dangerous channel; they may also be used for position fixing. At night ...

s on the southern end of

Daufuskie Island Daufuskie Island, located between Hilton Head Island and Savannah, is the southernmost inhabited sea island in South Carolina. It is long by almost wide – approximate surface area of (5,000 acres). With over of beachfront, Daufuskie is sur ...

in Beaufort County,

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. The Bloody Point Range Lights were built in 1883. Due to erosion, the front light was moved to the location of the former rear light and became the rear light. The lights were maintained as an official

aid to navigation In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

until 1922. The original Front Range Light house is currently a private home.Burn, Billie, ''An Island Named Daufuskie'', The Reprint Company, Inc., Spartanburg, SC, 1991, pp. 187-203, .Clary, Margie Willis, ''The Beacons of South Carolina'', Sandlapper Publishing Co., Inc., Orangeburg, SC, 2005, pp. 59-67, . Bloody Point is the southern end of Daufuskie Island. It was given this name because of the blood shed during the

Yamasee War The Yamasee War (also spelled Yamassee or Yemassee) was a conflict fought in South Carolina from 1715 to 1717 between British settlers from the Province of Carolina and the Yamasee and a number of other allied Native American peoples, incl ...

of 1715.Edgar, Walter, ''The South Carolina Encyclopedia'', University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC, 2006, p. 247, .

Original range lights

In 1871, the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

authorized two sets of range lights on Daufuskie Island. The other range lights were the

Haig Point Range Lights The Haig Point Range Lights were range lights on Calibogue Sound at the northeastern end of Daufuskie Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina. The Haig Point Range Lights were built in 1873 and were maintained as an official aid to navigation ...

on the northern end of the island. In 1882, was purchased for the Bloody Point lights. The Front Range Light was a red, kerosene lamp placed in a gable-fronted

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

window of the lightkeeper's house. This house, which was built by James C. LaCoste, was located near the beach on . The light was at a height of . The Rear Light was a tall triangular, iron

skeletal tower Skeletal frame light towers are lighthouse towers that have only an open frame. They are commonly built as aids to navigation; most of them are not considered to be lighthouses. However, during the late nineteenth century and the first years of ...

, manufactured by the Cooper Manufacturing of

Mount Vernon, Ohio Mount Vernon is a city in Knox County, Ohio, United States. It is located northeast of Columbus. The population was 16,990 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Knox County. History The community was platted in 1805, and named after Mo ...

. John Michael Doyle, who was an employee of the manufacturer, supervised the erection of the tower on a concrete foundation on plot about inland of the front light. Doyle became the first light keeper. A brick lamp house, which was also called a wick house, was built at the base of the tower to house the lamp during the day. At night, the red steamer lamp with parabolic reflector was raised on rails to a height of . The Bloody Point Range Lights were lit on 1883. A nearby brick oil house for storage of kerosene was also built.

Later configuration

Due to erosion, the front light was moved in 1899 to a location near the rear light, which was dismantled. In its new position, it became the rear light. A tall wooden house on metal legs was placed on leased land near the shore. The metal legs rested on metal disks that could be slid across the beach as the channel shifted. This light was moved several times over the next twenty years. The range lights were deactivated in 1922.Roberts, Bruce, and Jones, Ray, ''Southern Lighthouses: Outer Banks to Cape Florida,'' 3rd ed., Globe Pequot Press, Guildord, CT, 2002, pp. 48-49, . In 1925, the lightkeeper house was sold.Zepke, Terrance, ''Lighthouse of the Carolinas'', Pineapple Press, Sarasota, FL, 2002, pp. 153-157, . The front range light had already been lost due to erosion. The house was sold at auction and then sold to its last light keeper, Gus Ohman. In 1926, he sold it to a former assistant light keeper, Arthur A. "Papy" Burn, Jr., who lived there for about 40 years. In 1953, Papy Burn started making wine using blackberries, elderberries, scuppernongs, and other fruit in the lamp house and/or the oil house.Bansemer, Roger, ''Bansemer's Book of Carolina & Georgia Lighthouses'', Pineapple Press, Sarasota, FL, 2000, pp. 96-97, . Although wine making was a small operation, he called the building the Silver Dew Winery. Two small brick buildings with the sign for the Silver Dew Winery were described by

Pat Conroy Donald Patrick Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs; his books '' The Water is Wide'', ''The Lords of Discipline'', ''The Prince of Tides'' and ''The Great Santini'' we ...

in his autobiographical book the '' Water is Wide''.Conroy, Pat, ''The Water is Wide'', Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA, 1972, p. 69, . In 1981, the house was renovated as a private home. The property was seized for back taxes owed and sold. It was purchased in an auction at the Beaufort County Courthouse in 1983. After serving as a temporary pro shop for a golf course, it is now a private residence. The former Front Range House is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

of the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

' Daufuskie Island Historic District. The nomination form and an additional pictures are available from the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.

References

{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1883 Buildings and structures in Beaufort County, South Carolina Lighthouses in South Carolina Historic district contributing properties in South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Beaufort County, South Carolina 1883 establishments in South Carolina