Fort Sumter as it appeared c.1861 (Image from Charleston County Library)
Rick Dorrance, Chief of Resource Management, is a materials specialist with a BA in art history and an MA in landscape architecture. He has over 20 years with the National Parks Service, including work at the Presidio of San Francisco, and Fort Hancock, which guarded the entrance to New York harbor. In its 183 years, the fort has endured the greatest bombardment in the western hemisphere, hurricanes, earthquakes, and millions of tourists. During our one-hour tour, Mr. Dorrance will concentrate on the fort from architectural and preservation points of view answering the questions: From a fortification standpoint, why was it built as it was? What remained after the Civil War? How is the site preserved today despite the continuing abuses of time, tide, severe weather, and tourism? He will describe current innovations in historic preservation, including a one of a kind structural health monitoring system, and the treatment of historic cannons.
Cost: $18.00 per person (for the ferry to the fort)
May 17, 2013 (Maymester) @ 2:00 p.m.
Meet at Liberty Square at 2:00 p.m. to allow the recommended 25 minutes for ticketing and boarding. The ferry departs at 2:30 noon and will take us across the harbor (approximately 30 minutes). Once there, we will have only about one hour before reboarding the ferry for the 30 minute return ride. Expect to be back at Liberty Square at 4:30 p.m.
Fort Sumter
Fort Sumter Architectural Tour (May 17, 2013)
Fort Sumter as it appeared c.1861 (Image from Charleston County Library)
Rick Dorrance, Chief of Resource Management, is a materials specialist with a BA in art history and an MA in landscape architecture. He has over 20 years with the National Parks Service, including work at the Presidio of San Francisco, and Fort Hancock, which guarded the entrance to New York harbor. In its 183 years, the fort has endured the greatest bombardment in the western hemisphere, hurricanes, earthquakes, and millions of tourists. During our one-hour tour, Mr. Dorrance will concentrate on the fort from architectural and preservation points of view answering the questions: From a fortification standpoint, why was it built as it was? What remained after the Civil War? How is the site preserved today despite the continuing abuses of time, tide, severe weather, and tourism? He will describe current innovations in historic preservation, including a one of a kind structural health monitoring system, and the treatment of historic cannons.
Cost: $18.00 per person (for the ferry to the fort)
May 17, 2013 (Maymester) @ 2:00 p.m.
Meet at Liberty Square at 2:00 p.m. to allow the recommended 25 minutes for ticketing and boarding. The ferry departs at 2:30 noon and will take us across the harbor (approximately 30 minutes). Once there, we will have only about one hour before reboarding the ferry for the 30 minute return ride. Expect to be back at Liberty Square at 4:30 p.m.
Further Reading:
National Parks Service: Fort Sumter
“Shells preserved in wall where they hit Sumter,” Athens Banner-Harold, Dec. 22, 2012
“Fort Sumter Has Preservation Woes,” The Augusta Chronicle, 17 January 1999.
Classroom connection:
ARTH 105 Introduction to Architecture (Goudy)