The Fort Walker Ruins is the former site of Fort Sherman, also known as Fort Walker. The site was built in 1861 and encompassed 15 acres of land on the old Coggins Point Plantation. It was named after Brigadier General Thomas West Sherman, brother to General William Tecumseh Sherman. It is commonly mistaken to have been named after the brother William, but it was really for Thomas who served as the first commander of the Department of the South.

According to files, Fort Sherman served as a prototype of the forts Howell and Mitchel. It was designed to protect the state?s coast from attacks of the Union troops.

Today, the Fort Walker Ruins is a public site, commonly included on tours around Hilton Head Island.