Fort Christmas (Christmas, Florida)
Christmas · Florida · Second Seminole War
History & Significance
Colonel Zachary Taylor departed Fort Gardiner on the upper Kissimmee on December 19, 1837, with 1,000 men heading toward Lake Okeechobee. Upon arriving at a location about a mile north of the current site on December 25th, soldiers began building a fort and named it Fort Christmas because they started construction on Christmas Day.
Brigadier General Abraham Eustis led the contingent of 2,000 U.S. Army soldiers and Alabama militiamen, accompanied by 1,000 horses and 70 wagons. Fort Christmas measured 80 linear square feet with two blockhouses of 20 square feet each, a storehouse and a powder magazine within the walls.
By late January supplies were being distributed by water on the St. Lucie River, and in March 1838 the fort was decommissioned and abandoned. Although the fort did not endure any major events or warfare during the Second Seminole War, it was still an important supply depot for Jesup's army. One of approximately 200 forts built across Florida during the conflict, Fort Christmas exemplified the Army's strategy of establishing supply depots throughout the territory.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Full-scale replica of 1837 fort with period-accurate palisade design
- Museum displays artifacts from the Second Seminole War era
- Restored Florida Cracker-style buildings showing 19th-century settlement life
- Interpretive exhibits covering military history and Native American conflict
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Christmas
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Seminole_War
- https://myfloridahistory.org/taxonomy/term/124
- https://ftking.org/it-happened-on-christmas-day-in-the-1800s/
- https://fchsinfo.com/
- https://www.nbbd.com/godo/FortChristmas/
- https://dos.fl.gov/florida-facts/florida-history/seminole-history/the-seminole-wars/