Fort Fulton (Palm Coast, Flagler County, Florida)

Palm Coast, Flagler County · Florida · Second Seminole War

Quick BriefFort Fulton was established on February 21, 1840, between Old Kings Road and Pellicer Creek in present-day Flagler County, Florida. It was most likely a blockhouse style fortification designed to protect transportation routes during the Second Seminole War. No known attacks or skirmishes were recorded at Fort Fulton. The fort was most likely abandoned and burned down sometime around the end of the Second Seminole War in 1842.

History & Significance

Established on February 21, 1840, between Old Kings Road and Pellicer Creek in present-day Flagler County, Fort Fulton was one of a strategic network of fortifications constructed during the Second Seminole War. The fort was most likely manned with militia volunteers and appeared as a replacement for two abandoned forts—Fort Hanson and Fort Peyton—as part of Secretary of War Joel Roberts Poinsett's 1840 reorganization plan.

Blockhouses like Fort Fulton made strategic sense to protect transportation routes along Old Kings Road and Pellicer Creek. The fort functioned as a military outpost connecting St. Augustine to plantations to its south, likely used for communications and reconnaissance purposes in addition to defense.

No known attacks or skirmishes were recorded at Fort Fulton, suggesting it may have served primarily as a communications and supply node. In the 1970s and 1980s, amateur excavations by Belle Terre Middle School teacher Buddy Taylor and students uncovered military buttons, musket shot, and a brass firearm butt plate. The fort was most likely abandoned and burned down sometime around the end of the Second Seminole War in 1842.