Pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area
General Information
Overview
Fort Pickens is a massive brick fort at the western tip of Santa Rosa Island, guarding the entrance to Pensacola Bay and part of Gulf Islands National Seashore. It was the largest of the forts defending Pensacola Harbor, alongside Fort Barrancas, Fort McRee, and the Navy Yard, and part of the Third System of coastal fortifications.
French engineer Simon Bernard designed the fort after the War of 1812, and it was built from 1829 to 1834 with 21.5 million bricks, much of the labor done by enslaved workers. Its pentagonal plan has broad western walls for wide fields of fire, a moat on the east side, and mine chambers under the western bastions. Union forces held Fort Pickens throughout the Civil War.
Nearby
Casino Beach on Pensacola Beach, next to the Gulf Pier, has restaurants and family entertainment.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fort Pickens", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
