When you are walking along the High Battery in this direction, if you look to your left you will see Shutes Folly — a little island in Charleston Harbor. The island is home to Castle Pinckney, a small fortification that was built in about 1810 by the US government. The castle sits on top of the remains of Fort Pinckney, which was built in the late 1700s and destroyed by a hurricane in 1804. Among its uses was as an artillery position and a POW camp during the Civil War, but it is believe a shot was never fired from it during its existence. Declared a National Monument in 1924, it ignominiously had that status revoked in 1951. After its ownership changed hands a number of times, it is currently owned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans — who bought it for the grand sum of $10.
A local's eye view
