Fort San Marcos de Apalache (St. Marks, Wakulla County, Florida)
St. Marks, Wakulla County · Florida · Spanish Colonial, American Revolutionary War, First Seminole War, American Civil War
History & Significance
Spanish Governor Pablo de Hita y Salazar established the first fort in 1679 at the strategic junction of the Wakulla and St. Marks Rivers. Its original construction used logs coated with lime to resemble stone.
This original fort stood until 1681, when it was burned and subsequently looted by pirates. In 1719, Spanish Captain Jose Primo de Ribera oversaw construction of a second wooden fort.
In 1739 construction began on a stone fort, though less than half was finished when Spain ceded it to Britain in 1763 as a result of the Seven Years' War. Spanish forces reoccupied the fort in 1783 and strengthened its defenses.
In 1800, former British officer William Bowles briefly captured the fort with 400 Creek Indians, but a Spanish flotilla reoccupied it five weeks later. General Andrew Jackson seized the fort during the First Seminole War in 1818.
A military cemetery established at that time holds 19 men, most who died from disease. By 1839, the fort was returned to the United States and eighteen years later a federal marine hospital was built using stones from the Spanish fort to treat yellow fever victims.
During the Civil War, Confederates occupied the fort and renamed it Fort Ward. The site remained in private ownership for 100 years after the Civil War until the 1960s, when Florida acquired it to establish San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park.
Key Facts
Map
View larger map ↗ · © OpenStreetMap contributors
🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Stone colonial fortress with four bastions built to resist naval attack (1759)
- Museum exhibits covering four centuries of Spanish, British, and American occupation
- Civil War Confederate earthworks and batteries
- Archaeological remains and waterfront setting on the Wakulla River
Sources
- https://www.floridastateparks.org/learn/fort-san-marcos-de-apalache-history
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marcos_de_Apalache_Historic_State_Park
- https://www.trailoffloridasindianheritage.org/san-marcos/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_Wars
- https://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/sanmarcos1.html
- http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=169&ResourceType=Site