Fort Center (Lakeport, Glades County, Florida)
Lakeport, Glades County · Florida · Seminole Wars
History & Significance
Fort Center's archaeological importance far exceeds its brief military service. The site, located along Fisheating Creek northwest of Lake Okeechobee, contains a complex of mounds, linear embankments, middens, circular ditches, and an artificial pond spanning approximately one mile east-west.
The Belle Glade culture peoples occupied the area from approximately 1000 BCE until around 1700 CE. Archaeological investigations beginning in the 1930s and extensive excavations from 1966 to 1971 by teams from the University of Florida, Colgate University, and Florida Atlantic University revealed the site's ceremonial significance.
A charnel platform in the artificial pond held hundreds of bundled bodies, including remains of approximately 300 individuals. The site yielded carved wooden artifacts of exceptional preservation and evidence suggesting the Belle Glade peoples may have cultivated maize centuries before it appeared elsewhere in Florida.
Early visitors thought the Native American earthworks were remnants of the fort itself. The U.S. Army established a small palisade fortification at the site during the Second Seminole War in 1835, named for Lieutenant John P. Center, who was killed at the Battle of Okeechobee in December 1837.
The fort was reactivated in 1856 during the Third Seminole War but saw minimal military use. Today the site is preserved within Fisheating Creek Wildlife Management Area as an interpretive historical and archaeological landmark.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Reconstructed cabbage-palm palisade fort from Second Seminole War era
- Strategic Lake Okeechobee supply station site with military history
- Ancient archaeological remains underlying the 19th-century fortification
- Wildlife management area with natural wetland and creek ecosystem
- Named after Lieutenant J.P. Center, Battle of Lake Okeechobee veteran
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Center
- https://fortwiki.com/Fort_Center
- https://myfwc.com/recreation/lead/fisheating-creek/history/
- https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/floridas-forts
- https://floridahikes.com/fortcenter/
- https://nextexithistory.us/explore/historical-sites/fort-center-fisheating-creek-wildlife-management-area/
- https://visitglades.org/glades-county/lakeport/
- https://fisheatingcreekoutpost.com/park-history/
- https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/FLFFWCC/bulletins/2d6dad3