Rear Gate & Second Post Chapel

Rear Gate and Second Post Chapel. Fort Moultrie Military Reservation. , Residents of Sullivan’s Island had never held title to their land and homes. Instead, they were given long-term leases with the understanding that if their property were ever needed for national defense, that would take precedence. From 1895 to 1897 the War Department acquired over 300 acres of the island through the right of eminent domain. With that, Fort Moultrie became Fort Moultrie Military Reservation, stretching from station 12 to Station 18 where you are now standing. Since the only physical connection to the mainland was a bridge (now gone) at the southwest end of the island, Station 12 was designated the front gate and Station 18 the rear gate. Stimulated further by the Spanish-American War in 1898, the military reservation continued its transformation during 1902-1903 into a small city with some 250 structures spread across the island., Because of its location between two residential sections of the island and the long-standing habit of islanders being allowed to traverse the military reservation as they traveled from one end of the island to the other, the post quartermaster decided not to install rigid boundaries between the civilian and military sections. During World War II, however, the were guard houses with checkpoints at both gates that required residents to obtain passes. These pillars marked the gate at Station 18 were constructed during the summer of 940 and were made of reinforced concrete in order to hold the Civil War era cannons that are still on top., The first post chapel was a stone church located at Station 14 and Middle St. Originally Holy Cross Episcopal Church, the building was purchased by the army during its 1902-1903 expansion. With the increase in personnel during World War II, a new, larger post chapel was needed. The nearby Sullivan’s Island Baptist Church was the last structure built by the army on the island in 1944 as the new post chapel. Using the standard “Army Quartermaster’s 700-series” design, the church was wood-framed with clapboard siding, numerous large windows in the nave, and a modest steeple near the front. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt favored this design intended to remind troops of churches in their hometowns. With the troop drawdown after World War II, all religious services were moved to this chapel and continued there until the fort closed in 1947.