Fort Walker (Gainesville, Florida)

Gainesville · Florida · Second Seminole War

Quick BriefFollowing the start of the Second Seminole War in late December 1835, white settlers throughout Florida left their homes or took steps to protect themselves, and the residents of Hogtown built a fortification called Fort Hogtown. Fort Walker (also Fort Hogtown) was located in present-day Gainesville, Florida, during the Second Seminole War. This settler-built defensive structure served as a refuge during the conflict.

History & Significance

Hogtown was a 19th-century settlement in and around what is now Westside Park in Gainesville, Florida, originally a village of Seminoles who raised hogs, dubbed Hogtown by nearby white people who traded with the Seminoles. Following the start of the Second Seminole War in late December 1835, white settlers throughout Florida took steps to protect themselves, and the residents of Hogtown built a fortification called Fort Hogtown.

Fort Walker (also Fort Hogtown) was located in present-day Gainesville, Florida, during the Second Seminole War. Unlike the formal U.S. Army post Fort Clarke established nearby in 1836, this structure appears to have been a civilian militia fortification constructed in direct response to the Dade Massacre of December 28, 1835, which ignited the prolonged conflict.

The 1823 Treaty of Moultrie Creek obliged the Seminoles to move to a reservation in central Florida, and under the treaty terms, Chief John Mico received $20 as compensation for improvements the Seminoles had made in Hogtown. The fort's current status and archaeological remains are not extensively documented in available sources.