Reserve a Tour the Silver Dew Winery on Daufuskie Island
NOT YOUR TYPICAL WINERY The tiny and historic Silver Dew Winery is located in an unassuming building that dates all the way back to 1883. The building was originally constructed as what was known back then as a “wick house”. Wick houses were used as a place to store oil, wicks, and even the lamp for the nearby Bloody Point Lighthouse. In the mid-1900’s this Daufuskie Island icon was converted to a winery by Arthur “Papy” Burn. Papy loved Daufuskie Island and his home. He began making wine from grapes, scuppernong, pears, elderberries and other fruit in this tiny shed in the early 50’s. Locals soon dubbed the old wick house the Silver Dew Winery. The first mention of Silver Dew was when South Carolina author Pat Conroy wrote about it in his Low Country novel, The Water is Wide in 1972.
The Bloody Point Lighthouse, located at the southern tip of Daufuskie Island, has an uncommon story rich in history and duty. It all began in 1882 when the U.S. Government paid $425 for land to place the Bloody Point Light. This included a front-range lighthouse and a rear range light tower.The Lighthouse, designed by John Doyle who was also the first lighthouse keeper, was built on the ocean in 1883 to light the southern end of Daufuskie Island. It is a two-story building with the front light located in a small dormer window with a brass stand and wind-up clockwork to turn the light. There was also a rear range light tower.
This lighthouse allowed a ship to safely enter the channel when it lined up the front-range light with the rear range light. The placement of these range lights was very important in the early days to ensure safe passage into and out of the busy port of Savannah.The Bloody Point Lighthouse is very unique because it looks nothing like a typical lighthouse at all. In fact, the two-story structure is the same design as the keepers’ houses at the Tybee Island Light with the exception of the addition of a large dormer jutting out from the roof of Bloody Point where the light was kept. At night the dormer window opened, exposing a fixed reflector lens that shone in the direction of the other positioning light, transforming this normal-looking house into a lighthouse.