Free Fort Moultrie Admission Days 2015

Date: October 3, 2014
Contact: Bill Martin, [phone] x211

There are nine more reasons to enjoy Fort Moultrie! Fort Moultrie will offer free admission on nine days in 2015. The 2015 entrance fee-free days are:

• January 19: Martin Luther King Jr. Day
• February 14-16: Presidents Day weekend
• April 18-19: National Park Week's opening weekend
• August 25: National Park Service's 99th birthday
• September 26: National Public Lands Day
• November 11: Veterans Day

Fort Moultrie represents 171 years of seacoast defense in the United States. Originally constructed of palmetto logs and sand in 1776, this was the site of the first decisive victory of Patriot forces in the Revolutionary War when a fleet of nine British warships attempting to reach Charleston was defeated. The current structure, built of brick in 1809, was used for harbor defense through World War II. Today, visitors can see how the fort and seacoast defenses evolved from 1776—1947.

Usually, Fort Moultrie has an entrance fee of $3 per person. The fee waiver does not apply to Fort Sumter, as no entrance fee is charged there. Visitors to Fort Sumter pay a concession-operated ferry service for transportation. However, the fee-free days do apply to all National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee.

Last year, Fort Sumter National Monument had more than 709,000 visitors. Those visitors spent $44,922,800 in local communities which helped to support 628 jobs. These figures include Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, the Fort Sumter Visitor Education Center at Liberty Square in Charleston, and Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island.

For more information about Fort Sumter National Monument and Fort Moultrie, call [phone], visit us at www.nps.gov/fosu, on Facebook www.facebook.com/FtSumterNPS, Twitter www.twitter.com/FtSumterNPS, and YouTube www.youtube.com/FtSumterNPS.