The Ark of Sullivan’s Island

Coastal South Carolina was once famous for its ancient forests that produced a thriving timber industry. Vast acres of oak, pine and cypress were cut for great ships and grand houses that were virtually impervious to rot and termites. Timber growing in natural settings typically takes much longer to mature, and many old-growth trees near Charleston dated in the hundreds of years, developing tight growth rings that assures durability. Trees such as the long-leaf pine were harvested in huge numbers, and cut in timber mills and sawpits all over Charleston for centuries.
Most of local wood-producing establishments where built along the western bank of Charleston’s peninsula, where the timber barges would bring logs from up the Ashley River. Early mills used wind power to saw the huge trunks that were often hundreds of years old, and tides were impounded in expansive mill ponds to provide water power until steam took hold in the 1820’s. For many years, timber exports rivaled rice and cotton as one of Charleston’s most lucrative industries, and among the very successful enterprises was the Anderson Lumber Company at the West end of Broad Street.
One of the Anderson company’s most notable projects was construction of houses on Sullivan’s Island in the early 1900’s, after the new island railway had opened up areas north of Atlanticville. One such structure was built for the Anderson family near tram station 27 – a gabled-two story sturdily constructed from the heart of the old-growth pine. Shortly after it was finished, the island was hit by a severe hurricane in 1911, and both family members and neighbors gathered inside the house as the swirling waters rose to dangerous levels all over the island. Many houses were completely swept away, but the Anderson house proved a lifesaver from the flood, and was christened “The Ark” – a name that it has been famous for ever since.