Fort Taylor

Fort Taylor -

Fort Taylor was constructed in 1845 on the edge of Key West, facing southwest. It was part of the US Army's plan to fortify the southern border and defend the southern coastline. It took twenty years to build, and hundreds of men worked in very poor conditions to build the fort. They included slaves, masons and even soldiers unlucky enough to get assigned to this post. There were many deaths due to yellow fever and other miseries. Fort Taylor has an interesting history as far as the Civil War era is concerned. Even though Florida is of course south of the Mason-Dixon line, Key West was part of the northern Union during the war. It was the only city south of the line to be on the side of the Union. Therefore, Fort Taylor was an important piece of the Union's defense system. The State of Florida did secede from the Union, so Union soldiers had to march into Fort Taylor and claim it as part of the Union, and hold it. Just outside the walls of Fort Zachary Taylor, the young men of Key West were joining the Confederate army. Fort Taylor held out, but was still largely ignored by Washington when it needed supplies and more troops. The men suffered from neglect and continuing problems with yellow fever. The fort degraded along with the morale of its men. It never even got fully completed before the US Army decided it wasn't even strategically important any longer. In the 1900s, a few updates were completed on the fort and it was called into service a few times. However, by the 1960s, Fort Taylor was abandoned. By then the US Navy had taken over. A Navy historian was largely responsible for cleaning the place up and renovating it to become a Florida State Historical Park. There are fifty acres managed by the State of Florida and it has the best beach in Key West. You can have a picnic here, eat at the concession stand, bring your bicycle and ride the trails, or hang out on the beautiful beach. In winter, there are exhibits by Key West Sculpture on the grounds.