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Photo courtesy of the
Florida Division of Historical Resources.
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When Spanish forces under Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés arrived at the St. Augustine inlet in 1565, they discovered that the French already had built a fort on the St. Johns River a few miles to the north. A defending French fleet was struck by a hurricane and many of its survivors were put to death by Menéndez near another inlet to the south, which came to be called Matanzas ("massacre" or "slaughter"). Shortly after landfall, Menéndez constructed a wooden fort called Castillo de San Marcos, which suffered from fires and rot. Ground was broken for a coquina (shellrock) fort in 1672. The main portion of the fort took 15 years to build; the entire structure was completed after 24 years and held off a British siege in 1702. After Florida was ceded to Britain in 1763, Castillo de San Marcos was used to train British troops. During the American Revolutionary War, colonial American prisoners were kept at the castillo. In 1821, Spain ceded Florida to the United States in a ceremony at the castillo, which was renamed Fort Marion. During the Second Seminole War, the Seminole leader Osceola was imprisoned for a time at the fort. In 1847, another Seminole leader and 19 followers made a daring escape. The fort was strengthened somewhat during the Civil War but saw no real action. In 1924, Fort Marion was declared a national monument and came under the protection of the U.S. Park Service in 1933. In 1942, Congress changed the name of Fort Marion to its historic name, Castillo de San Marcos. The historic fort, which is located in downtown St. Augustine, is open every day but Christmas.
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