Saint Augustine Fort The Castillo de San Marcos
776 views · Published 23 March 2014 · 7:07 · Indexed 10 November 2026
Channel: boompowzap · 2014 · People & Blogs
The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States (Castillo San Felipe del Morro in San Juan, Puerto Rico is older). Located on the shore of Matanzas Bay in the city of St. Augustine, Florida, construction began in 1672, 107 years after the city's founding by Spanish Admiral and conquistador Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, when Florida was part of the Spanish Empire. The construction began at the command of Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega after the destructive raid of Robert Searles. After Britain gained control of Florida in 1763 pursuant to the Treaty of Paris, St. Augustine became the capital of British East Florida, and the fort was renamed Fort St. Mark until the Peace of Paris (1783) when Florida was transferred back to Spain. In 1819 Spain signed the Adams--Onís Treaty which ceded Florida to the United States in 1821 and the fort became a United States Army base which was renamed Fort Marion, in honor of American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion. In 1942 the original name, Castillo de San Marcos, was restored by an Act of Congress. The fort was declared a National Monument in 1924 and after 251 years of continuous military possession, the fort was deactivated in 1933 and the 20.48-acre (8.29 ha) site was turned over to the United States National Park Service.
