Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas

USA / Florida / Key West /
 park, monument, fortification, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, 1840s construction
www.nps.gov/drto/learn/historyculture/fort-jefferson.ht...

Fort Jefferson was begun in 1846 on Garden Key, Tortugas as part of the Third-System of coastal fortifications. This massive coastal fortress was never finished. It is the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere, and is composed of over 16 million bricks.

As of 1851, it was intended to be armed with one hundred eighty-eight 32-pounder guns, thirty-six 24-pounder guns, three field pieces, sixty-six 8" heavy seacoast howizters, five 10" heavy mortars and five light 10" mortars for a total of 298 guns.

It was designated Fort Jefferson National Monument in 1935, and became part of the Dry Tortugas National Park in 1992.

www.fortjefferson.com/home.htm
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Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Jefferson,_Florida
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Coordinates:   24°37'43"N   82°52'23"W

Comments

  • Doctor Samuel Mudd (of "Your name is Mud" fame) spent several years here as a prisoner after he treated John Wilkes Booth for his broken leg, a leg which he broke in trying to escape after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Believing that Mudd was part of the conspiracy, he was sentenced to prison. He eventually won a pardon after helping a number of the prisoners and guards survive an outbreak of Yellow Fever.
This article was last modified 6 years ago