Considered a strategic location during the Revolutionary War, the site was defended by General William Moultrie
A well-dressed group gathers for an Easter picnic near Bacon’s Bridge on April 11, 1914, in this image taken by photographer Morton Brailsford Paine. Located in Summerville, the bridge crosses the Ashley River northwest of the Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site. Built between 1696 and 1700, it was first named Steven’s Bridge for the man who owned the land at the crossing. It was renamed for Michael Bacon, who purchased the tract soon after. Considered a strategic location during the Revolutionary War, the site was defended against the British during the Siege of Charleston in 1780 by General William Moultrie, who constructed an earthwork fort nearby. It also served as a campsite for General Francis Marion’s militia, prompting the naming of the nearby “Marion’s Oak.” In 1850, Reverend Robert I. Limehouse, who served two terms as mayor, built a plantation where the former redoubts stood and dubbed it “The Hill.” The Summerville Preservation Society commemorated the site’s legacy in 2017 with a historical marker dedication ceremony.
