Fort Fremont at Lands End on St. Helena Island was closed to the public in the spring of 2019 for extensive renovations and the addition of a History Center.
The project improvements at the site included the construction of an interpretive history center to provide an educational experience for visitors to the facility, which will also house many artifacts and display items representing the Fort’s history. The scope of work also included the installation of a picnic pavilion along with walking paths and public restrooms.
The site reopened on May 28, 2021 and the improvements can be seen right away as you enter the grounds of the preserve at it’s front gate. See a photo tour of the new Fort Fremont.
The much anticipated Grand Opening of the brand new Fort Fremont History Center is being held on Tuesday, November 9 from 3pm to 5pm.
Beaufort County Councilman York Glover, Beaufort County Administrator Eric Greenway, Friends of Fort Fremont President Kathryn Mixon, Chieftess of the Gullah/Geechee Nation Queen Quet, and Friends of Fort Fremont’s Marian Rollings will provide remarks, immediately followed by the ribbon cutting and reception activities.
The Fort Fremont History Center is located on Fort Fremont Preserve at 1124 Lands End Road, St. Helena Island (map).
Passive recreation and historic amenities include free public access and parking area, a picnic pavilion, ADA pathways, history center with scale models of the fort and associated buildings as they stood in 1900, restrooms, drinking fountains and historic concrete batteries.
The Friends of Fort Fremont work with Beaufort County to preserve and promote Fort Fremont’s historic, natural, educational, and cultural resources through public tours and displays at the history center.
Visitors to Fort Fremont Preserve can learn about the fort’s history by reading the interpretive panels on display near the batteries, taking a self-guided walking tour through a smart phone app, visiting the history center exhibit hall or attending a docent-led tour of the property. The forested habitat also provides a wonderful opportunity for viewing spring and fall migrating birds and enjoying the scenic views of the Port Royal Sound.
The Preserve is open to the public Monday through Sunday from dawn to dusk. The History Center exhibit hall is open to the public every Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
the Fort Fremont Preserve, “The Fort Fremont History Center in Memory of Pete Richards”.History
Fort Fremont is a Spanish-American War coastal defense artifact built in 1898 by the Army Corps of Engineers to defend the Port Royal Sound. It was built using local labor on condemned private property on Saint Helena Island across the Beaufort River from the Naval Station. It was designed to play a vital role in the protection of the strategic dry dock and coaling station which remained critical to the Atlantic Fleet during the Spanish American War period.
The historic significance of Fort Fremont is that it is representative of the new coastal defenses built during this period in U.S. History with a modern, upgraded design and new weapons systems.
The site and its historic ruins, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, were acquired in 2004 by Beaufort County Council into the County’s Rural and Critical Lands Program.
Learn all about the history of Fort Fremont here.
See more about Fort Fremont today here.
