This weeks newsletter has an article about Breach Inlet, so it is ironic that this news was just released.
Bridge may be named for Hunley
BY DAVID QUICK
Of The Post and Courier Staff
ISLE OF PALMS - A new bridge calls for a new name.
State and local officials appear ready to name the
new bridge spanning Breach Inlet between the Isle of Palms and Sullivan's
Island for the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley. The submarine left the inlet
the night of Feb. 17, 1864, on its way to sink the Union blockade vessel
Housatonic.
Earlier this month, Rep. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of
Palms, introduced a resolution in the Statehouse seeking to name the bridge
for the submarine, as well as to put up a historical marker at the inlet.
Before ushering the resolution forward, Campsen wrote the mayors of both
islands asking for support of the effort.
"I can think of no better name for our new
bridge, considering the euphoria currently surrounding the Hunley," said
Campsen in the letter. "My research indicates many histories of the
Hunley omit that Breach Inlet was the point of embarkation for the Hunley's
fateful voyage into history."
"A bridge named after the Hunley and a
historical marker would be a great way to assure Breach Inlet's role in the
Hunley saga is_ not forgotten."
Sullivan's Island Town Administrator Karen McNamara
said Town Council members discussed the naming and didn't have a problem with
it. Isle of Palms City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday night to support the
name.
With the consent of the islands, Campsen anticipates
no problems getting resolutions passed in both the House and the Senate. The
resolution calls on the Transportation Department to name the bridge as
suggested.
Breach Inlet's significance in history, however, is
not confined to the Civil War.
In June 1776, 780 Patriot riflemen fought off 3,000
British troops who attempted to cross the inlet from then-Long Island to
Sullivan's Island. A faded historical marker denotes the battle, but the
marker is located off the beaten track - in the front yard of a house on
Charleston Boulevard.
The former 38-foot-wide bridge that had spanned
Breach Inlet was named for William Thomson, a Revolutionary War hero who led
the inlet's defense just days before the Declaration of Independence was
signed. The Thomson bridge was built in 1956.
Campsen said he knows of and appreciates Thomson's
significance in the Revolutionary War, but responded, "He had a bridge
named for him for 44 years."
Construction on the new, $8.4 million bridge - which
will measure 56 feet wide and include bike lanes and spacious, raised
sidewalks - is expected to be complete on Sept. 1, state Transportation
Department resident district engineer Jim Roe said.
One half of the new bridge has been open to two-way
traffic since last July. The Thomson bridge was demolished shortly after that.
Used with permission of The Post and
Courier and Charleston.Net