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Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, FL by Warren LeMay

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Designed by Spanish engineer Ignacio Daza, and constructed between 1672 and 1695 of local Coquina stone, the Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the Continental United States, and the oldest remaining building in St. Augustine. The fort’s construction was ordered by Spanish Royal Governor Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega, then in control of Florida, after a 1668 raid by English Privateer Robert Searle did extensive damage to the city and the previous wooden fort. Construction started under the administration of Governor Manuel de Cendoya, with the first stones being laid in 1672. The fort saw its first military engagement in 1702, when South Carolina Governor James Moore attacked St. Augustine, burning the town to the ground, but retreating rather than taking the fort by force. Starting in 1738, the interior was reconfigured, with vaulted stone ceilings replacing the original wooden ones, and an additional seven feet was added to the height of the structure as a result. In 1740, the fort was again attacked, this time by Georgia Governor James Oglethorpe, and again, was not taken by force. The fort remained in use by the Spanish to defend the city of St. Augustine and their foothold on the mainland of the North American continent until 1763, when Florida was transferred to the British by the Treaty of Paris, concluding the Seven Years’ War. Under the British, the fort continued to be used for military purposes, though the name was anglicized to Fort St. Mark. Upon the transfer of Florida back to Spain in 1783, the fort reverted to the name of Castillo de San Marcos, which remained the official name of the structure throughout the Second Spanish Period. In 1819, the Adams–Onís Treaty was signed, which sold Florida to the United States, with a transition period beginning that ended with full control of the territory being handed to the United States in 1821. Upon transfer to the United States, the Castillo de San Marcos was renamed Fort Francis Marion, after American Revolutionary War Hero and South Carolina native Francis Marion. The fort was utilized by the United States to incarcerate prisoners who were members of several Native American tribes, including the Seminole during the Seminole Wars in the early 19th Century, most notable among them being Chief Osceola, and members of western Native American Tribes, including the Kiowa, Chiricahua Apache, Warm Springs Apache, and Cheyenne, in the late 19th Century. The fort is the first place where Ledger Art, created by members of Plains tribes, was recorded. The fort fell into Confederate hands in 1861 at the start of the Civil War, but was quickly retaken by Union forces in 1862, and remained in the possession of the United States until the end of the war. In 1898, the fort was utilized to house imprisoned deserters of the Spanish-American War, with the usage of the fort as an active duty base ceasing in 1900. In 1924, the fort was designated as a National Monument, and was finally deactivated in 1933, after over two and a half centuries of continuous usage as a military installation. The site was subsequently turned over to the National Park Service, whom continue to operate the site. In 1942, via an act of congress, the original name of the structure, the Castillo de San Marcos, was restored. The fort was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Florida.

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