Name Rooted in 17th Century

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

If you have looked at the city of Sullivan web page you know that Sullivan was named for Sullivan Island and Moultrie County was named for Ft. Moultrie, both in Charleston, S.C.

But the names have a deeper history than you realize.

Fort Moultrie was originally named Fort Sullivan as the first fort built on Sullivan Island. It was an incomplete log fort built of Palmetto wood. When it was attacked by British forces in 1776,  the soft Palmetto wood absorbed the cannonballs, and the British were forced to retreat. Charleston was saved, and the fort was renamed for its commander, Colonel William Moultrie.

After the war, the fort was neglected and by 1791 little remained. A second Fort Moultrie was completed in 1798, but it was also neglected and eventually destroyed by hurricane in 1804. A third and better reinforced fort was built in 1809 and was further modernized in 1885. It was one of 19 forts along the Atlantic coast.      Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.