Bloody Point....
A Lighthouse Keeper’s Narrative BY LOWCOUNTRY JOE YOCIUS Owner/Keeper Bloody Point Lighthouse [ aka FUSKIE DUDE ]
Welcome from the back porch of the Historic CIRCA 1883 Bloody Point Lighthouse!
N
ature calls in the middle of the night. Stars twinkle in the heavenly sky and the sound of waves crashing upon the Bloody Point shore blend in with the sounds of tree crickets. All is well in the heavens and on a piece of land fashioned like an arrow point by our creator. But is it? Flashes of light flow into the large window that was once the “Light Room” but now functions as a bathroom. I peer out and listen for the crackle of lightning, but none will come. Yes, the sky is clear and the spirits are out. The spirits of Bloody Point. They flash across the fairways, greens and loblolly pines of the renovated Bloody Point golf course. They remind me of the Northern lights I experienced at the top of the world while stationed at Thule Greenland. Magnificent bright dancing lights acting like dervishes that stream like rippling currents. Swirling the dew laden grass and gleefully wrapping pines and oaks in loving caresses, it seems they have been temporarily released of their supernatural confines and are simply having fun and then they are gone. As a human I feel blessed to have experienced this phenomena, but in my heart there was never any need to wonder who these spirits were. All one has to do is visit the new Bloody Point Golf Club’s pro shop and restaurant. Upon entering, a spacious rotunda
42
awaits you with skylights that allows Gods light to display four magnificent murals on adjoining walls. These murals painted upon Bloody Point’s construction in the late 80’s portray Bloody Point’s history for all to see. I feel with all my heart it was the inhabitants portrayed in these paintings and the residents of the structures that are the gleeful spirits. The scene of the Indians depicts one of three battles where the Bloody Point beach was crimson with blood. Yemassees along with Creeks, Appalachions, Congarees, Carawbas and Cherokees had been making quick raids on unprotected Plantations on the Southern cost. They would pilfer and steal and then head back to their main camp at St. Augustine. In previous raids, they had been slaughtered but in the battle of 1715, they pounced on unsuspecting settlers at Bloody Point’s Southern tip known as Fort Passage. They enacted their revenge and never again appeared on Bloody Point’s shores. Oakley Hall, the magnificent Bloody Point Plantation House CIRCA 1874 was torn down in 1942. This mansion named for the oak that formed its construction was owned by Mr. Harry Stoddard. He was known for lavish parties at the time, bringing over throngs of guests from Savannah. Dancing lasted long into the night provided by live orchestras and a brass band.
Fall 2013