Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park

Amenities

The Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center, at 340 Concord Street, Liberty Square, Charleston, South Carolina, sits on the Cooper River. Its museum exhibits cover North-South disagreements leading to the Fort Sumter incidents, including slavery, plantation culture, major figures, politics, and Confederate Army formation. This center is the main departure point for tour boats to Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor; park rangers and volunteers offer topical programs weekly for each boat.

The Fort Sumter museum focuses on the fort's construction and Civil War role; the fort is accessible only via concession tour boat, not by private watercraft or low-tide sandbar. The Fort Moultrie Visitor Center, at 1214 Middle Street, Sullivan's Island, provides a self-guiding brochure, interpretive wayside exhibits, and guided tours daily at 11:00 am and 2:30 pm subject to staff availability. It offers an orientation film and museum exhibits on American seacoast defenses from 1809 to 1947 and the history of the first two forts, plus an information desk, book and souvenir store, and bathrooms. Charleston Light is closed to the public but viewable from its grounds, which also provide beach access.