2 weeks Ago
MOUNT PLEASANT — The likeness of Captain Wayne Magwood , cast in bronze and standing tall, has returned to the waters where he spent most of his days. A crowd gathered on the Shem Creek bridge on April 17 to celebrate the unveiling of the Magwood Fisherman's Memorial Statue . Magwood's four daughters stood to the side of the memorial, shrouded in a blue sheet.
A bronze basket full of shrimp and the wide toes of fishermen's boots poked out from the covering. Tressy Magwood and family and the town of Mount Pleasant unveiled a new statue honoring Wayne Magwood and the shrimping industry on the Shem Creek pedestrian bridge. Each woman grabbed a piece of the sheet, counting down from four and whipping the fabric off together.
There stood Wayne Magwood, with Shem Creek's waters sparkling behind him. He is holding a handful of shrimp, his eyes crinkling in a soft smile and a Greek fisherman's hat atop his head, the kind he always wore. John Panagiotou, a chaplain for the Charleston Port and Seafarers Society, blessed the statue with a sprinkling of holy water and a prayer.
The statue is a memorial to both the fisherman and the shrimping industry , for which he was a fierce advocate. Family and friends wore shirts honoring Captain Wayne Magwood during the unveiling the bronze statue on the Shem Creek bridge Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Mount Pleasant. Magwood's daughters partnered with the town of Mount Pleasant to erect the statue shortly after his unexpected death in 2020.
Magwood was killed in an auto-pedestrian accident on Coleman Boulevard. He had retired from the trade just a few months before. Over $100,000 was raised for the memorial in four years.
Magwood served as president of the South Carolina's Shrimpers Association and helped launch Mount Pleasant's Blessing of the Fleet festival , an annual event that honors the town's shrimping and fishing industry. "Wayne was a great leader, a great fisherman, a great man who cared about the industry, and cared about other shrimpers," State Sen. Chip Campsen said.
Tressy Magwood-Mellichamp, former teacher of Benny Sutherland helps him place flowers at the new statue of Captain Wayne Magwood on the Shem Creek bridge of Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Mount Pleasant. Sutherland befriend the Shem Creek shrimper after Magwood-Mellichamp introduced the two. Magwood's personality and the recognizable boat he operated even found national attention.
The Winds of Fortune is featured in Darius Rucker's "Come Back Song" music video. Magwood took "Dirty Jobs" host Mike Rowe out on his trawler, too. The Magwood name is synonymous with shrimping in Mount Pleasant.
The family brought the trade to the town in the early 20th century. Magwood's nephew, Rocky, still operates out of Shem Creek on Magwood's Pride. And for many, Wayne Magwood was a friend.
"Wayne had a tender spirit. Wayne was a hard worker. You can't be in shrimping and not be a hard worker, but one thing came through about Wayne and it didn't take you long to know that he loved this fleet and he loved this creek and everything that it stood for," Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie said.
The new bronze statue of Captain Wayne Magwood is unveiled on the Shem Creek bridge Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Mount Pleasant. A mix of family and friends in flowy dresses and springy pastels on a warm afternoon waited for their turn to take a picture with the statue. "My sisters and I listened and heard many heartwarming stories and accolades from individuals during this process.
Some we knew and some we had never heard before. But the underlying theme was that our dad touched many lives in this community and in many, many different capacities," said Tressy Mellichamp, one of Magwood’s daughters. The tribute to Magwood would be incomplete without much of Mount Pleasant's remaining shrimping fleet in attendance, including Magwood's brother, Scotty.
The statue captured his brother well, he said, as he mingled with family and fellow shrimpers. The distinctive bellowing laugh of fishermen, in once-white boots and ball caps, rounded out the afternoon. A sculpture of former shrimp boat Captain Wayne Magwood is being created in Savannah by artist Susie Chisholm that will find a home on Shem Creek to honor him and recognize the local maritime industry.
Savannah-based artist Susie Chisholm spent months sculpting the hyper-realistic statue in her upstairs studio in the Peach State. Chisholm used oil-based clay to capture the fisherman's warm smile and kind eyes. "It's just like seeing my daddy," Mellichamp said last August.
She traveled to Chisholm's studio to see the work in progress . It was an emotional reunion. "It is just like looking right at his face and seeing him again for the first time in a long time," Mellichamp said.
.
