The Last Bastion
The largest brick masonry structure in the Americas, Fort Jefferson, is probably also the most remote and inhospitable garrison built by the United States as part of its seacoast defensive system, referred to as the 'Third System.'
Situated in the Dry Tortugas Islands, roughly 70 miles west of Key West, the construction of Fort Jefferson lasted nearly 30-years and required over 16 million bricks. The fort itself was rendered obsolete before it was half-completed, by the advent of the rifled cannon. But, it's strategic location along the key shipping lines of the Gulf of Mexico was invaluable as a safe haven for Union Naval forces during the civil war, and as a US Navy coaling station during the Spanish American War.
Toward the end of the US Civil War, the fort was used as a prison. It's most famous prisoner, Dr. Samuel Mudd, was the physician who set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg after his assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and escape from Ford's Theater. His actions to care for his jailers and soldiers during a yellow fever outbreak in 1869 earned him a pardon from President Andrew Johnson.
The fort was a difficult and costly facility to keep in operation due to the lack of fresh water in the Dry Tortugas, and the constant beatings from Caribbean hurricanes. Following particularly strong storms in 1906, the Navy, who retained the property after the War Department's departure in 1889, abandoned the fort, and it was eventually set aside as a Federal bird reservation. In 1935, FDR designated the site as Fort Jefferson National Monument, and the entire Dry Tortugas were established as a National Park in 1992.
When visiting Key West, there are several tour operators who provide ferry and float-plane service to the Fort. I highly recommend a visit!
The Last Bastion
The largest brick masonry structure in the Americas, Fort Jefferson, is probably also the most remote and inhospitable garrison built by the United States as part of its seacoast defensive system, referred to as the 'Third System.'
Situated in the Dry Tortugas Islands, roughly 70 miles west of Key West, the construction of Fort Jefferson lasted nearly 30-years and required over 16 million bricks. The fort itself was rendered obsolete before it was half-completed, by the advent of the rifled cannon. But, it's strategic location along the key shipping lines of the Gulf of Mexico was invaluable as a safe haven for Union Naval forces during the civil war, and as a US Navy coaling station during the Spanish American War.
Toward the end of the US Civil War, the fort was used as a prison. It's most famous prisoner, Dr. Samuel Mudd, was the physician who set John Wilkes Booth's broken leg after his assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and escape from Ford's Theater. His actions to care for his jailers and soldiers during a yellow fever outbreak in 1869 earned him a pardon from President Andrew Johnson.
The fort was a difficult and costly facility to keep in operation due to the lack of fresh water in the Dry Tortugas, and the constant beatings from Caribbean hurricanes. Following particularly strong storms in 1906, the Navy, who retained the property after the War Department's departure in 1889, abandoned the fort, and it was eventually set aside as a Federal bird reservation. In 1935, FDR designated the site as Fort Jefferson National Monument, and the entire Dry Tortugas were established as a National Park in 1992.
When visiting Key West, there are several tour operators who provide ferry and float-plane service to the Fort. I highly recommend a visit!