"History of Ft. Taylor" Fort Taylor Travelogue by grandmaR

Looking down into courtyard

A summary of Ft. Taylor's history - adapted from the Florida State Parks website:

Construction of the fort began shortly after Florida became a state. The fort is named after U.S. President Zachary Taylor. Construction (like construction on Ft. Jefferson) was slow. Yellow fever, shortages of material and men, remoteness and hurricanes had slowed down progress.

Looking over toward cruise ship dock

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Key West was an important outpost for the Union because numerous blockade-running ships were detained at Key West harbor. The 10-inch Rodman and Columbiad cannons at the fort had a range of three miles. This was an impressive deterrent to the Confederate navy, preventing them from attempting to take the fort or the island of Key West.

Cannon from fort wall

Fort Taylor remained in Union hands throughout the Civil War. By the time the three-story fort was finally finished in 1866 (21 years after it was begun), there were many impressive features included. Items such as sanitary facilities flushed by the tide and a desalination plant which produced drinking water from the sea were available as early as 1861. A total of 198 guns and a large supply of ammunition were on hand to secure the fort.

Part of the moat

In the years that followed, Fort Taylor was again used during the Spanish-American War. In 1889, in an effort to modernize the fort, the top levels were cut down to install newer weapons. Further remodeling also included the addition of Battery Osceola and Battery Adair on the inside of the fort.

Passing ship

With the coming of the 20th century, more sophisticated weapons and eventually radar and other devices took the place of guns. By 1947, the Army turned Fort Taylor over to the Navy to maintain.

Bob on ramparts

Beginning in 1968, through the tireless efforts of volunteers, excavations for old armaments in the gun rooms uncovered a number of guns and ammunition from Civil War times. This represents only a fraction of the buried arsenal, which is the largest collection of Civil War cannons in the U.S. In recognition of this, Fort Taylor was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. Two years later, the fort was designated a National Historic Landmark.