Fort Jefferson (1)

Fort Jefferson

Fort Jefferson (1) (1846-1874) - Construction began in 1846 supervised by the Army Corps of Engineers and continued for 30 years and was never completed. Named after President Thomas Jefferson. Abandoned in 1874.

Fort Jefferson (1) History

Established to protect a critical point and to control shipping in the Gulf of Mexico.

Designed as the largest Third System brick and masonry fort in the U.S. Fort Jefferson is a three-tiered six-sided 420 heavy gun fort, with two sides measuring 325 feet, four sides measuring 477 feet and bastions at each corner. The guns were mounted inside the walls in a string of open casemates, facing toward the sea through large embrasures. The fort depended upon rain water as the only source of water on the island and an elaborate system of cisterns was constructed.

This fort, like all the other Third System Forts was made obsolete by the adoption of large caliber rifled cannon that could penetrate the brick and masonry walls. The destruction of Fort Pulaski by Union batteries in Apr 1862 signaled the demise of the Third System Forts.

Soldiers and officers quarters, gunpowder magazines, storehouses, and other buildings were located on the interior parade. The Army employed a variety of civilian contractors, paid laborers and slaves to construct the fort. During the U.S. Civil War the number of Union military convicts increased so significantly that slaves were no longer necessary. The peak military population of Fort Jefferson was 1,729 and the total population almost 2000 with military dependents and civilians.

After the U.S. Civil War Fort Jefferson was used as a Federal prison and housed the famed convicted conspirators of the Lincoln assassination including Dr. Samuel A. Mudd.

Fort Jefferson was abandoned in 1874.

Current Status

• 1908 Wildlife refuge
• 1935 National Monument
• 1992 National Park

The park is staffed with about a dozen park rangers who live year round in accommodations built into the casemates of the fort.

Access to the island is provided by commercial boats and seaplanes based in Key West.

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Location: 70 miles west of Key West on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas Islands, Florida. Maps & Images Lat: 24.628611 Long: -82.873333 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 3'

Sources:

• Roberts, Robert B., Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States, Macmillan, New York, 1988, 10th printing, ISBN 0-02-926880-X, page 178-179
• Robinson, Willard B., American Forts: Architectural Form and Function, University of Illinois Press, Urbana, 1977, ISBN 0-252-00589-9, page 115-117
• Lewis, Emanuel Raymond, Seacoast Fortifications of the United States: An Introductory History, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis MD, 7th printing, 1993, ISBN 1-55750-502-0, page 43, 54,

Links:

• National Park Service
• Park Vision
• Wikipedia - Dry Tortugas National Park

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