Fort Pickens
Well, we finally got the sun and warmth promised. The sun is shining bright and the air is crisp and clear with the temps today in the low 60’s, so it’s off to Fort Pickens. Fort Pickens is the largest of four forts built to defend Pensacola Bay and its navy yard. The fort was begun in1829 and completed in in 1834 and was used until 1947. Over 21.5 million bricks were required , mostly made locally and barged to the island. Construction of the fort was extremely difficult because workers were exposed to an unfriendly climate, yellow fever and heat exhaustion.
Ironically the only real action the fort endured occurred when the country was at war with itself. Fort Pickens was one of four seacoast forts in the South that remained in Union control during the Civil War.
We did a self-guided tour in the morning and were impressed by the size of the fort. It is in disrepair and many of the bricks that lined the floors have been taken by tourists as souvenirs. The fort stood on state land until the 1970’s when the National Park Service took it over for its historical value. There has not been a lot of restoration to this fort so its rather dilapidated. The fort has under gone several changes over the years to accommodate newer technology. It is the fourth largest fort in the country.
Later in the day we went back for the tour provided by the Park Ranger. We were happy to see that Amanda, our guide from Fort Barrancas would provide the history of Fort Pickens. She did not disappoint, and made the fort and its history come alive. Interestingly, despite its size the fort only housed 53 artillary men. What a big place for so few people.
r0n Note: I was fascinated by the quantity of brick and workmanship. We were told that the bricks were local but later read that the bricks came from New England. Many of the pieces of brick I found had ST on them. I thought it was Stiles brick from MA. I found an embossed mortar with St Joe’s on it – not from our area. Mystery solved. They were only allowed to put their name on brick one thousand so it made it difficult to get my answer.
All about BRICKS OR 2 MUCH ABOUT bricks (lol)
http://brickcollecting.com/collection2.htm
http://www.stilesandhart.com/aboutus.html
ST JOE BRICKS
http://www.stjoebrickworks.com/
Fort Pickens was the place where 53 Apaches and their families were held captive for two years. Included in that group was Geronimo the elusive Medicine Man who avoided capture by our military forces for several years.
After the tour of the fort we headed out to tour the multiple concrete batteries located on the western end of Santa Rosa Island. The batteries illustrates the evolution of coastal defenses from brick and stone fortifications to modern reinforced concrete.
We stopped at each one and were amazed to see the type and extent of weaponry provided to protect our shores. Very impressive, indeed!
Another Beautiful Sunset on Santa Rosa Island
We ended our day with another beautiful sunset. Then it was back to the MH for dinner and to watch the Super Bowl.
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