
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 4, 1990                   TAG: 9004040028
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FOLLY BEACH, S.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

HUGO UNEARTHS CIVIL WAR RELICS

When Hurricane Hugo battered this island community it uncovered well-preserved Civil War artifacts including smoking pipes, leather boots and wooden buttons from a Union camp, officials said.

The site, which had been kept secret since the Sept. 21 storm in an effort to keep vandals away, was shown to reporters on Monday as part of Duke University geologist Orrin Pilkey's field trip to assess damage from the hurricane.

"The exceptional thing about the site is the preservation seems to be superb. We rarely ever get wood," said Martha Zierden, curator of historical archaeology at the Charleston Museum.

Other artifacts unearthed by the storm included a piece of a wooden scrub brush, bullets, bottles, ink wells, wooden buttons and barrels and salted pork.

"These provide insight into day-to-day living," said Gered Lennon, a geologist for South Carolina Coastal Council and Folly Beach resident, who discovered the site. The items had been buried under 2 feet of sand.

Lennon said he was concerned about vandals disturbing the site, and noted that police are checking the area regularly.

The area, about 100 yards long, likely was used to store Union munitions and food, Lennon said.

Excavation of the site is on hold while federal officials review a permit application, Zierden said.

Thousands of Union soldiers used Folly Beach as a winter encampment during the bombardment of Fort Sumter at the start of the Civil War and the siege of Charleston.

Last year, relic hunters discovered the vestiges of a long-lost regimental hospital cemetery during excavation for a road in a heavily wooded area of a housing development.

by CNB