The Shute's Folly Beacon sheds light on activities that occur on Shute's Folly, the small island in Charleston Harbor where Castle Pinckney is located. This section takes its name from the beacon that was set up on a tower at Castle Pinckney in 1855 (shown at left in masthead above). The abandoned fort served as a lighthouse station and depot until 1917.*

Coastal birds, including Eastern Brown Pelicans and American Oystercatchers, call Shute's Folly home during the nesting season. Between nesting seasons, Castle Guardians volunteer regularly to visit the brick-and-mortar fort to protect and maintain the site. They often perform other tasks, including flag-raising ceremonies, to recognize historic flags and events, and to honor causes.

An archaeologist's trowel, like the one shown immediately above, will designate archaeological reports.

What Flag is Flying Over Castle Pinckney?

Currently, the official Charleston 9 Memorial Firefighters flag is flying over Castle Pinckney. Castle Guardians raised the flag over the historic fort in early June to commemorate the tragic loss of nine of Charleston's finest on June 18/19, 2027 in the Sofa Superstore Fire.

If you're a current member of the Castle Pinckney Historical Society, click on the camera above to see Flag Live Feed. If you're not a member, join now to see it!

Calendar for Castle Guardian Workdays

If you'd like to join the Castle Guardians when they visit Castle Pinckney to protect and maintain the site, please check the calendar above for opportunities to join them. NOTE: To participate in volunteer workdays at the site, you must be a member of the Castle Pinckney Historical Preservation Society. You must also have purchased insurance and signed a waiver.

Latest Post

June 20, 2026:  Castle Guardians Use Newly-Constructed Dock for First time to Work at Castle Pinckney

Charleston, S.C. ─ Castle Guardians used the newly-constructed dock at Castle Pinckney in Charleston Harbor for the first time on Saturday, June 20, to access the fort and conduct a workday at the historic site.

“I'm happy to report that the dock made it much easier and safer for us to enter and exit the fort, and to conduct another successful workday," said Matthew Locke, who led the Castle Guardians, all of whom were volunteers. “I'm also happy to report that we accomplished an important task once we completed our work and before we left the fort at the end of our workday.

“We lowered the Charleston 9 Memorial Flag, which the Castle Pinckney Historical Preservation Society had flown over Castle Pinckney during the past two weeks to commemorate the tragic loss of nine Charleston firefighters in 2007," Locke added. “We then replaced it with a South Carolina State flag that was custom-made to match the historically accurate design adopted for the flag by the State of South Carolina on January 28, 1861." More

Previous Posts

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*More on the Beacon at Castle Pinckney -- A yellow tower, which included a beacon, was constructed at Castle Pinckney in 1855 prior to the War Between the States. The beacon had a 5th order, non-rotating Fresnel lens and a focal plane of 50 feet that permitted its light to be visible at a great distance. The masthead at the top of this page, showing the tower with its beacon at left, was produced from the engraving published in 1861 by Harper's Weekly shortly after the war began See engraving, “Castle Pinckney: Silent Sentinel ...". In the 1866 chart at the bottom of this page, the beacon is also identified next to Castle Pinckney on Shute's Folly.

Castle Pinckney was transferred to the Lighthouse Board in 1878 for use as a lighthouse depot for the Sixth District, serving lighthouses from North Carolina to Florida. A lighthouse, built at Castle Pinckney in 1880, replaced the original tower and its beacon. The newer lighthouse was built in 1890 when the fort became a lighthouse station. A lighthouse depot was situated on Tradd Street in Charleston in 1916, and the lighthouse station at Castle Pinckney was deactivated in 1917.