Fort Sumter National Monument- Civil War History Across the Charleston Harbor

Charleston South Carolina Virtual Field Trip Week 3

Free virtual field trip coloring page: Fort Sumter National Monument

History abounds all over Charleston SC – the tour of this fort is awesome…

The tour of the fort, and the harbor cruise are excellent family vacation choices.  Our kids enjoyed the boat shuttle to the Fort Sumter National Monument and the tour itself.  The commercial boat transportation leaves from two locations in Charleston…. Liberty Square in downtown Charleston or from the Patriots Point Museum in Mt. Pleasant.

The time spent at the fort is self-guided, but there are national park rangers available for questions.  The tour includes a lot of history about the significance of the Fort in the War between the States.

This is another great Charleston SC vacation stop to soak up the civil war history that is such a big part of the South.  The kids loved seeing the cannons, and the sleeping quarters of the fort…. of course, my kids can only take so much “history”…. so we have to temper the history trips with a lot of beach time.

Tours are handled by Spirit Line Cruises, and depart from Liberty Square at the Aquarium Wharf, or from Patriot’s Point in Mt. Pleasant.  Spirit Lines offers the only commercial boat transportation to Fort Sumter, the island fort where the Civil War began. The 2 hour 15 minute tour consists of approximately 1 hour at Fort Sumter, then a 1 hour and 15 minute cruise around Charleston’s historic harbor.   The tours run daily except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years Day.

Some History of Fort Sumter National Monument

Fort Sumter off the coast of Charleston is where the US Civil War started. The Confederates took the fort in only thirty-four hours, and the Union tried for four years to get it back.

Construction on Fort Sumter started in 1829, and was still incomplete in 1861 when the Civil War began. The fort has five sides and was built to accommodate 650 men and 135 guns. The fort was built after the war of 1812 as a series of forts to protect the US coastline.

There are Civil War–era cannons on display at the fort. In addition, you can tour old barracks and get a feel for the distance to the Charleston Harbor from the fort.

Virtual Field Trip Week 3 Free Coloring Page

Free virtual field trip coloring page: Fort Sumter Monument

Fun Facts about Fort Sumter National Monument

• Did you know that this was where the Civil War in America started? When conflict arose between the Northern and American factions in 1861, the first shots from the Confederates were fired from this fort.
• The fort is named after General Thomas Sumter, a Revolutionary War hero.
• Seventy thousand tons of granite were imported from New England to build up a sandbar on which to build the fort.

Fort Sumter National Monument Reviews

Unbiased Fort Reviews

Fort Sumter National Monument Information

Fort Sumter South Carolina

Address: 1214 Middle St.
Sullivan’s Island, 29482  

Phone:  843-883-3123

Visit the Fort  web site for more information.

 

Charleston South Carolina Virtual Field Trip

Week 1 – Charleston Vacations – An Overview / Quick Look
Week 2 – Downtown Charleston – 10 Pieces of History Not To Be Missed
Week 3 – Fort Sumter National Monument
Week 4 – Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum

For all future updates on Virtual Field Trips, join our update mailing list using the box below, or by clicking the link here.