Edgar Allan Poe's original short story, published in 1843, is a first person narrative, so it is set on or before that year. In Poe's story he acknowledges that Fort Moultrie is located on Sullivan's Island and is manned and that people live on the island. The Gold Bug adaptation shown on the TV series "ABC Weekend Specials" is set in 1866 (shown in an on-screen title at 0:01:32) which places it after the US Civil War (1861-1865) and happens to be the year that the last troops in Fort Moultrie were mustered out (12/10/1866). In the adaptation, the narrator is a boy, Sullivan's Island is deserted and it is where Kidd's treasure is buried. In the original short story Kidd's treasure is buried on the mainland. This change was undoubtedly made because children would find it more believable due to the popularity of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1882 novel 'Treasure Island' (about Captain Flint's treasure) and its many movie adaptations.