From Military Base to National Park

In 1947, Fort Moultrie Military Reservation closed as static seacoast defenses became obsolete. Fort Sumter became a National Monument in 1948, but Fort Moultrie and the rest of the reservation were divided, transferred to state and local governments, or sold to the public. After the military left, the Town of Sullivan's Island prospered as a coastal island community, while Fort Moultrie was largely forgotten and abandoned. In 1960, South Carolina transferred Fort Moultrie to the National Park Service as a unit of Fort Sumter National Monument. The site first opened as a national park unit on April 1, 1963. Ten years later, the fort underwent a major restoration project in conjunction with the Bicentennial of the American Revolution. On June 28, 1976, Fort Moultrie officially reopened to the public with a visitor center across the street.

Sullivan's Island, South Carolina · United States