In the days before lighthouses, many vessels and people died when ships ventured onto the shoals, and wind and waves claimed them for the sea.

A gradually increasing rumbling ‘sounding something like a battery of artillery or a troop of cavalry crossing a long bridge,’ was heard before the shock.

About a thousand “cranes” nest on the Key during the summer months, and these were flying about ‘making a fearful noise,’ during the shock, (“A Descriptive Narrative of the Earthquake of August 31, 1886, by Carlyle McKinley.)

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, McClellanville’s villagers began holding “Cape Parties” on Lighthouse Island.

They played games, swam, caught fish, and collected crabs and oysters, then they roasted their tasty sea treats on the beach.

For many years, refuge employees have sought resourceful solutions to protect the lighthouses from the damaging winds, storms, and salt air, but time has taken its toll.

When refuge employees linked their efforts with partner and supporter Tommy Graham, disintegration of the old lights slowed.

Graham, a local historic restoration professional, worked with a team of refuge staff and volunteers to repair and repaint the lighthouses in 1983.

Four guided tours a year are offered by Cape Romain NWR, with transportation provided by Coastal Expeditions Ferry.