The Fort Zachary Taylor State Historic Site, better known simply as Fort Taylor, (or Fort Zach to Key West locals), is a Florida State Park centered on a Civil War-era fort located near the southern tip of Key West, Florida.
History of Fort Zachary Taylor
Construction of the fort began in 1845 as part of a mid-1800s plan to defend the southeast coast through a series of forts. The fort was named for United States President Zachary Taylor in 1850, a few months after President Taylor's sudden death in office. Yellow fever epidemics and material shortages slowed construction of the fort, which continued throughout the 1850s. At the outset of the U.S. Civil War in 1861, Union Captain John Brannon seized control of the fort, preventing it from falling into Confederate hands and using it as an outpost to threaten blockade runners . The fort was completed in 1866, although the upper levels were destroyed in 1889 to make way for more modern weapons, with the older cannons being buried around the fort. The fort was heavily used again during the 1898 Spanish-American War.
In 1947, the fort, no longer of use to the army, was turned over to the U.S. Navy for maintenance. In 1968 volunteers excavated Civil War guns and ammunition buried in long-abandoned parts of the fort, which was soon discovered to house the nation's largest collection of Civil War cannons. Fort Taylor was therefore placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973. Due to the filling in of land around the fort, including the creation of an attractive stretch of beach, the park now occupies 87 acres (352,000 m²).
Current uses
In addition to the role of the fort and its adjacent beach as tourist attractions, Fort Taylor is also the location of a number of annual events, including week-long Civil War reenactments. On the weekend preceding Halloween, it is transformed into a haunted fort, much like a haunted house but on a grand scale and with a distinctive Civil War theme.
External link
Last updated: 08-26-2005 14:33:05
