The Story of the Pirate Hangings at White Point Garden (Historic Charleston, SC)

On the 8th of November, 1718, twenty-nine pirates from the crew of the Revenge, members of pirate Captain Stede Bonnet’s crew, were executed in Charles Town, South Carolina.

The men had been brought as captives back from the Cape Fear River by Colonel William Rhett, along with Captain Bonnet, and since the beginning of the month, the pirates had undergone eleven trials. Found guilty, on November the 8th (a Saturday) the men were hanged until dead “at the White Point near Charles-Town” according to published transcripts from 1719 regarding the event.

”The White Point” at that time referred to a publicly owned site of oyster shoals exposed at low-tide, a landmark visible to all in the harbor; a prime location to ensure the select dangling corpses on display would be seen as a warning to those contemplating a life of piracy. Later in the month, 19 more pirates from the crew of Captain Richard Worley would be hanged here as well, and four and a half weeks later, Captain Stede Bonnet would be hanged at the same location.

Today, White Point Garden sits atop the Battery, which overlooks where “the White Point” once was, and in this location is a memorial marker to those executed nearby.

(Pictured is a period map displaying the White Point transposed over-top current Google Satellite [with White Point Gardens being the green square nearest to the corner], an aerial photo from above Charleston’s harbor showing where White Point once was, and the memorial stone in the park)