Castillo de San Marcos
Encyclopedia
The Castillo de San Marcos site is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. It is located in the city of St. Augustine
, Florida
. Construction was begun in 1672 by the Spanish when Florida was a Spanish territory. During the twenty year period of British possession from 1763 until 1784, the fort was renamed Fort St. Mark , and after Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821 the fort was again renamed Fort Marion, in honor of revolutionary war hero Francis Marion
. In 1942 the original name, Castillo de San Marcos, was restored by Congress. The site was never taken by force despite multiple periods of attack. The fort was also subject to a paranormal investigation by the Travel Channel
show Ghost Adventures
in 2009.
was founded by the admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
for the Spanish Crown in 1565 on the site of a former Native American village. Over the next 100 years, the Spanish built nine wooden forts for the defense of the town in various locations. The need for fortifications was recognized after it was attacked by Sir Francis Drake and his fleet of 20 ships in 1586. Following the 1668 attack of the English pirate Robert Searle, Mariana
Queen Regent of Spain
, approved the construction of a masonry fortification to protect the city.
The Castillo is a masonry
star fort
made of a stone called coquina
, Spanish for "small shells", made of ancient shells that have bonded together to form a type of stone similar to limestone
. Workers were brought in from Havana
, Cuba
, to construct the fort in addition to Native American laborers. The coquina was quarried from the 'King's Quarry' on Anastasia Island
in what is today Anastasia State Park
across Matanzas Bay
from the Castillo, and ferried across to the construction site. Construction began on October 2, 1672 and lasted twenty-three years, with completion in 1695.
The fort has four bastions named San Pedro, San Agustine, San Carlos and San Pablo with a ravelin
protecting the sally port
. On the two landward sides a large glacis
was constructed which would force any attackers to advance upward toward the forts cannon and allow the cannon shot to proceed downslope for greater efficiency in hitting multiple targets. Immediately surrounding the fort was a moat
which could be flooded to a depth of a foot during high-tide with seawater from Matanzas Bay prior to an attack via the use of floodgate
s built into the seawall
.
Multiple embrasures were built into the curtain wall
along the top of the fort as well as into the bastions for the deployment of cannon of various calibers. Infantry embrasures were also built into the walls below the level of the terreplein
for the deployment of muskets by the fort's defenders. It was through one of these embrasures that twenty Seminole
s held as prisoners would escape in 1837.
) was founded by the English. As it was just two days sail from St. Augustine
, the English settlement spurred the Spanish in their construction of a fort. In November 1702, English forces under orders from Governor James Moore
of Charles Town, set sail from Carolina
in an attempt to capture the city. This was one of the events of Queen Anne's War
.
The English laid siege to St. Augustine
. All of the city's 1,200 residents along with the fort's 300 soldiers remained protected inside the wall of the fort for the next two months during the siege.
The English cannon had little effect on the walls of the fort. The coquina
was very effective at absorbing the impact of the shells, allowing little damage to the walls. The siege was broken when the Spanish fleet from Havana, Cuba arrived, trapping the English forces in the bay. The English burned their ships to prevent them from falling under Spanish control, and they marched overland back to Carolina
. As they withdrew, they set fire to St. Augustine
, burning much of it to the ground.
Spain and Britain were rivals in Europe. Because the two countries had initiated empires in the New World, their heated rivalry continued. In 1733 a British vessel, the Rebecca, commanded by Captain Robert Jenkins, was seized in the Caribbean by the Spanish coast guard. Suspecting that the British had been trading illegally with Spanish colonies (which was forbidden by both Spain and Britain), the Spanish searched the ship. A fight broke out between the Spanish and British sailors. In the skirmish, Jenkins had his ear cut off by a Spanish officer, who picked it up and said "Take this to your king and tell him that if he were here I would serve him in the same manner!" When Jenkins reported the incident to British authorities, they used it as a catalyst to declare war on Spain in 1739. The war was called the War of Jenkins Ear.
After British Admiral Edward Vernon
scored a huge victory
at Portobelo, General James Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, was quick to imitate him in North America. In June of 1740, Oglethorpe and an English fleet of seven ships appeared off St. Augustine
. As in the 1702 siege, three hundred soldiers and 1,300 residents found refuge within the Castillo's walls. For 27 days the British bombarded the Castillo and St. Augustine. Realizing his cannon were not affecting the Castillo's walls, Oglethorpe decided to starve the people of St. Augustine by blockading the inlet at the Matanzas River
and all roads into St. Augustine. No supplies could reach the city. With morale and supplies low for his own forces, Oglethorpe had to retreat. To protect the fort from future blockades and siege Fort Matanzas
was built.
after the Seven Years War, Britain
gained all of Spanish Florida
in exchange for returning Havana and Manila
to Spain
. On July 21, 1763, the Spanish governor turned the Castillo over to the British, who established St. Augustine as the capital of the province of East Florida
, established by the Royal Proclamation of 1763
.
The British made some changes to the fort, and renamed it Fort St. Mark. As Great Britain was the dominant power in North America, they were not worried about keeping the fort in top condition. This attitude prevailed until the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
. The fort was used as a military prison during the war. Among those imprisoned was Christopher Gadsden
, the Lieutenant governor of South Carolina
. He was also a delegate to the Continental Congress
and a brigadier general
in the Continental Army
during the war. He was released after 11 months.
Improvements were begun on the fort, in keeping with its new role as a base of operations for the British in the South
. The gates and walls were repaired, and second floors were added to several rooms to increase the housing capacity of the fort. The Castillo saw action during the American Revolution mainly as a prison, although St. Augustine was targeted by several aborted expeditions from Georgia. Several revolutionary fighters who had been captured in Charleston were held there when it was taken by the British. The Spanish declared war on Britain in 1779, drawing off forces from Fort St. Mark and keeping the British occupied. Bernardo de Gálvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana, attacked several British-held cities in West Florida
, capturing all of them. The only major British operation that used troops from St. Augustine was the poorly-coordinated but successful capture of Savannah
, Georgia; the city was taken by troops from New York before those from St. Augustine arrived.
At the end of the war, the 1783 Treaty of Paris
called for the return of Florida to Spain. On July 12, 1784, Spanish troops returned to St. Augustine.
When Spain regained control over Florida
they found a much changed territory. Many Spaniards had left Florida
after the hand over to Britain, and many British citizens stayed after the hand over back to Spain
. Many border problems arose between Spanish Florida and the new United States
. Spain changed the name of the fort back to the Castillo de San Marcos, and continued to build upon the improvements that Britain had made to the fort in an effort to strengthen Spain’s hold on the territory. However, due to increased pressure from the United States
and several other factors, in 1819, Spain
signed the Adams-Onís Treaty
, ceding Florida
to the United States
.
as part of the American coastal defense system
. The original Spanish seawall was dismantled to ground level and a new seawall constructed immediately adjacent to the seaward side of the original. At this time a hotshot furnace was also built in the filled in section of the moat behind the newly built water battery. Cannonballs were heated in the furnace to fire at wooden enemy ships.
In October 1837, during the Second Seminole War
, Seminole chief Osceola
was taken prisoner by the Americans while attending a peace conference under a flag of truce
. He was imprisoned in the fort along with his followers, including Uchee Billy
, King Philip
and his son Coacoochee
(Wild Cat). Uchee Billy was captured on September 10, 1837, and he died at the fort on November 29. His skull was kept as a curio by Dr. Frederick Weedon, who also decapitated
Osceola after his death in Fort Moultrie and kept the head in preservative.
On the night of November 19, 1837 Coacoochee along with Talmus Hadjo, 16 other Seminole braves and two Seminole women escaped from Fort Marion by squeezing through the eight inch (203 mm) opening of the embrasure
located high in their cell and sliding down a makeshift rope into the moat. They made their way to their band's encampment where the Tomoka River
meet the Atlantic. Due to their treatment they vowed to continue fighting and prolonged the war for four more years. In the past Coacoochee's Cell from which he escaped was part of the official lore of the fort.
In January 1861, Florida seceded from the United States
in the opening months of the American Civil War
. Union troops had withdrawn from the fort, leaving only one man behind as caretaker. In January 1861, Confederate
troops marched on the fort. The Union
soldier manning the fort refused to surrender it unless he was given a receipt for it from the Confederacy
. He was given the receipt and the fort was taken by the Confederacy
without a shot. Most of the artillery in the fort was sent to other forts, leaving only five cannon in the water battery to defend the fort.
The Saint Augustine Blues
a militia unit formed in St Augustine were enrolled into the Confederate Army at Ft. Marion on August 5, 1861. They were assigned to the recently organized Third Florida Infantry as its Company B. More than a dozen former members of the St. Augustine Blues are buried in a row at the city's Tolomato Cemetery
.
The fort along with the rest of the city of St Augustine was reoccupied by Union troops after acting mayor Cristobal Bravo officially surrendered the city to Union Navy fleet commander E.R.P Rodgers on March 11, 1862. The Confederate forces left the city the previous evening in anticipation of the arrival of the Union fleet under the command of Commodore Dupont
.
entered the bay, finding the city evacuated by Confederate
troops. The city leaders were willing to surrender in order to preserve the town, and the city and the fort were retaken without firing a shot. Throughout the rest of the fort's operational history, it was used as a military prison.
Beginning in 1875, numerous Native American
prisoners were held at the fort in the aftermath of the Indian Wars in the west. Many would die at the fort. Among the captives were Chief White Horse
of the Kiowa
, and Chief Grey Beard
of the Southern Cheyenne.
During this period, Richard Henry Pratt
, a Civil War veteran, supervised the prisoners and upgraded the conditions for them. He developed ways to give the men more autonomy and attempted to organize educational and cultural programs for them. They became a center of interest to northerners vacationing in St. Augustine
, who included teachers and missionaries. Pratt recruited volunteers to teach the Indian prisoners English, Christian religion, and elements of American culture. He and most US officials believed that such assimilation was needed for the Indians' survival in the changing society.
The men were also encouraged to make art; they created hundreds of drawings. Some of the collection of Ledger Art
by Fort Marion artists is held by the Smithsonian Institution
. It may be viewed online.
Encouraged by the men's progress in education, citizens raised funds to send nearly 20 of the prisoners to college after they were released from Ft. Marion. Seventeen men went to the Hampton Institute, a historically black college. Others were sponsored and educated in New York state at private colleges. Among the latter were David Pendleton Oakerhater
, as he became known, who was sponsored by US Senator Pendleton
and his wife. He studied and later was ordained as an Episcopal priest. He returned to the West to work as a missionary with Indian tribes. He was later recognized by the Episcopal Church as a saint.
Based on his experience at Fort Marion, Pratt recommended wider education of Indian children, a cause which Senator Pendleton embraced. He sponsored a bill supporting this goal, and the US Army offered the Carlisle Barracks
in central Pennsylvania as the site of the first Indian boarding school. Its programs were developed along the industrial school
model of Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes, which officials thought appropriate to prepare Native Americans for what was generally rural reservation life. Through the early 20th century, the government founded 26 other Indian boarding schools, and permitted more than 450 boarding schools run by religious organizations.
From 1886-1887, approximately 491 Apaches were held prisoner at Fort Marion; many were of the Chiricahua
and Warm Springs Apache bands from Arizona
. There were 82 men and the rest were women and children. Among the men, 14, including Chatto
, had previously been paid scouts for the US Army. Among the Chiricahua were members of the notable chief Geronimo's
band, including his wife. Geronimo was sent to Fort Pickens
, in violation of his agreed terms of surrender. While at the fort, many of the prisoners had to camp in tents, as there was not sufficient space for them. At least 24 Apaches died as prisoners and were buried in North Beach.
In 1898, over 200 deserters from the Spanish-American War
were imprisoned at the fort. This marked one of the last uses of the fort as an operational base. In 1900, the fort was taken off the active duty rolls after 205 years of service under five different flags.
In 1924, the fort was designated a National Monument
. In 1933 it was transferred to the National Park Service
from the War Department
. In 1942, in honor of its Spanish heritage, Congress authorized renaming the fort as Castillo de San Marcos. As an historic property of the National Park Service, the National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP) on October 15, 1966. The National Park Service manages the Castillo together with Fort Matanzas National Monument
. In 1975, the Castillo was designated an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers
.
Since being transferred to the Park Service, the Castillo has become a popular tourist attraction. It occupies 2.5 acres (10,100 m²) in downtown St. Augustine, Florida.
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Construction was begun in 1672 by the Spanish when Florida was a Spanish territory. During the twenty year period of British possession from 1763 until 1784, the fort was renamed Fort St. Mark , and after Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821 the fort was again renamed Fort Marion, in honor of revolutionary war hero Francis Marion
Francis Marion
Francis Marion was a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. Acting with Continental Army and South Carolina militia commissions, he was a persistent adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina in 1780 and 1781, even after the Continental Army was driven...
. In 1942 the original name, Castillo de San Marcos, was restored by Congress. The site was never taken by force despite multiple periods of attack. The fort was also subject to a paranormal investigation by the Travel Channel
Travel Channel
The Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...
show Ghost Adventures
Ghost Adventures
Ghost Adventures is a weekly American paranormal television series that premiered on October 17, 2008 on the Travel Channel. Currently produced by MY-Tupelo Entertainment , the program follows and stars ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Nick Groff, and Aaron Goodwin, as they investigate locations that are...
in 2009.
Construction
The European city of St. AugustineSt. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
was founded by the admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral and explorer, best remembered for founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. This was the first successful Spanish foothold in La Florida and remained the most significant city in the region for several hundred years. St...
for the Spanish Crown in 1565 on the site of a former Native American village. Over the next 100 years, the Spanish built nine wooden forts for the defense of the town in various locations. The need for fortifications was recognized after it was attacked by Sir Francis Drake and his fleet of 20 ships in 1586. Following the 1668 attack of the English pirate Robert Searle, Mariana
Mariana of Austria
Mariana of Austria was Queen consort of Spain as the second wife of King Philip IV, who was also her maternal uncle...
Queen Regent of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, approved the construction of a masonry fortification to protect the city.
The Castillo is a masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
star fort
Star fort
A star fort, or trace italienne, is a fortification in the style that evolved during the age of gunpowder, when cannon came to dominate the battlefield, and was first seen in the mid-15th century in Italy....
made of a stone called coquina
Coquina
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the average size of the...
, Spanish for "small shells", made of ancient shells that have bonded together to form a type of stone similar to limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. Workers were brought in from Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, to construct the fort in addition to Native American laborers. The coquina was quarried from the 'King's Quarry' on Anastasia Island
Anastasia Island
Anastasia Island is a barrier island which is approximately long located off the northeast Atlantic coast of Florida in the United States. The island is located east and southeast of St. Augustine. It is separated from the mainland by the Matanzas River, part of the Intracoastal waterway, Matanzas...
in what is today Anastasia State Park
Anastasia State Park
Anastasia State Recreation Area is a Florida State Park located on a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of Anastasia Island across Matanzas Bay from downtown St. Augustine...
across Matanzas Bay
Matanzas Bay
Matanzas Bay is a saltwater bay in St. Johns County, Florida, the entrance to the bay from the South Atlantic is via St. Augustine inlet. Bodies of water that connect to the bay in addition to the South Atlantic are clockwise from the inlet;...
from the Castillo, and ferried across to the construction site. Construction began on October 2, 1672 and lasted twenty-three years, with completion in 1695.
The fort has four bastions named San Pedro, San Agustine, San Carlos and San Pablo with a ravelin
Ravelin
A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress...
protecting the sally port
Sally port
The primary modern meaning for sally port is a secure, controlled entryway, as at a fortification or a prison. The entrance is usually protected in some way, such as with a fixed wall blocking the door which must be circumvented before entering, but which prevents direct enemy fire from a distance...
. On the two landward sides a large glacis
Glacis
A glacis in military engineering is an artificial slope of earth used in late European fortresses so constructed as to keep any potential assailant under the fire of the defenders until the last possible moment...
was constructed which would force any attackers to advance upward toward the forts cannon and allow the cannon shot to proceed downslope for greater efficiency in hitting multiple targets. Immediately surrounding the fort was a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
which could be flooded to a depth of a foot during high-tide with seawater from Matanzas Bay prior to an attack via the use of floodgate
Floodgate
Floodgates are adjustable gates used to control water flow in flood barriers, reservoir, river, stream, or levee systems. They may be designed to set spillway crest heights in dams, to adjust flow rates in sluices and canals, or they may be designed to stop water flow entirely as part of a levee or...
s built into the seawall
Seawall
A seawall is a form of coastal defence constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation and leisure activities from the action of tides and waves...
.
Multiple embrasures were built into the curtain wall
Curtain wall (fortification)
A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two bastions of a castle or fortress.In earlier designs of castle the curtain walls were often built to a considerable height and were fronted by a ditch or moat to make assault difficult....
along the top of the fort as well as into the bastions for the deployment of cannon of various calibers. Infantry embrasures were also built into the walls below the level of the terreplein
Terreplein
Terreplein, or terre-plein — in fortifications is the top, platform, or horizontal surface, of a rampart, on which cannon are placed. In Martello towers, the roof or terreplein was sometimes surmounted with one or two cannon on a gun platform with a central pivot that enabled the guns to rotate up...
for the deployment of muskets by the fort's defenders. It was through one of these embrasures that twenty Seminole
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
s held as prisoners would escape in 1837.
First English siege
In 1670, Charles Town (modern-day Charleston, South CarolinaCharleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
) was founded by the English. As it was just two days sail from St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, the English settlement spurred the Spanish in their construction of a fort. In November 1702, English forces under orders from Governor James Moore
James Moore (South Carolina politician)
James Moore was the British governor of colonial South Carolina between 1700 and 1703. He is remembered for leading several invasions of Spanish Florida, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the Spanish missions in Florida....
of Charles Town, set sail from Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
in an attempt to capture the city. This was one of the events of Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
.
The English laid siege to St. Augustine
Siege of St. Augustine (1702)
The Siege of St. Augustine was an action in Queen Anne's War during November and December 1702. It was conducted by English provincial forces from the Province of Carolina and their native allies, under the command of Carolina's governor James Moore, against the Spanish colonial fortress of...
. All of the city's 1,200 residents along with the fort's 300 soldiers remained protected inside the wall of the fort for the next two months during the siege.
Coquina
Coquina is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. For a sediment to be considered to be a coquina, the average size of the...
was very effective at absorbing the impact of the shells, allowing little damage to the walls. The siege was broken when the Spanish fleet from Havana, Cuba arrived, trapping the English forces in the bay. The English burned their ships to prevent them from falling under Spanish control, and they marched overland back to Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
. As they withdrew, they set fire to St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, burning much of it to the ground.
Second period of construction
Beginning in 1738, under the supervision of Spanish engineer Pedro Ruiz de Olano, the interior of the fort was redesigned and rebuilt. Interior rooms were made deeper, and vaulted ceilings replaced the original wooden ones. The vaulted ceilings allowed for better protection from bombardments and allowed for cannon to be placed along the gun deck, not just at the corner bastions. The new ceilings required the height of the exterior wall to be increased from 26 to 33 feet (10.1 m).Second British Siege
After British Admiral Edward Vernon
Edward Vernon
Edward Vernon was an English naval officer. Vernon was born in Westminster, England and went to Westminster School. He joined the Navy in 1700 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1702 and served on several different ships for the next five years...
scored a huge victory
Battle of Porto Bello
The Battle of Porto Bello, or the Battle of Portobello, was a 1739 battle between a British naval force aiming to capture the settlement of Portobello in Panama, and its Spanish defenders. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, in the early stages of the war sometimes known as the...
at Portobelo, General James Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, was quick to imitate him in North America. In June of 1740, Oglethorpe and an English fleet of seven ships appeared off St. Augustine
Siege of St. Augustine
The Siege of St. Augustine took place in July 1740 during the War of Jenkins' Ear, in which Britain and her colonies attacked Spanish colonies in the Americas.-Background:...
. As in the 1702 siege, three hundred soldiers and 1,300 residents found refuge within the Castillo's walls. For 27 days the British bombarded the Castillo and St. Augustine. Realizing his cannon were not affecting the Castillo's walls, Oglethorpe decided to starve the people of St. Augustine by blockading the inlet at the Matanzas River
Matanzas River
Matanzas River is a body of water located in St. Johns and Flagler counties in Florida. It is a narrow saltwater bar-bounded estuary sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by Anastasia Island....
and all roads into St. Augustine. No supplies could reach the city. With morale and supplies low for his own forces, Oglethorpe had to retreat. To protect the fort from future blockades and siege Fort Matanzas
Fort Matanzas National Monument
Commemorated in 1924, Fort Matanzas National Monument is a United States National Monument run by the National Park Service. The Monument consists of a 1740 Spanish fort, Fort Matanzas, and about 100 acres of salt marsh and barrier islands along the Matanzas River on the northern Atlantic coast...
was built.
British occupation
In 1763, the British managed to take control of the Castillo but not by force. As a provision of the Treaty of Paris (1763)Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
after the Seven Years War, Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
gained all of Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
in exchange for returning Havana and Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. On July 21, 1763, the Spanish governor turned the Castillo over to the British, who established St. Augustine as the capital of the province of East Florida
East Florida
East Florida was a colony of Great Britain from 1763–1783 and of Spain from 1783–1822. East Florida was established by the British colonial government in 1763; as its name implies it consisted of the eastern part of the region of Florida, with West Florida comprising the western parts. Its capital...
, established by the Royal Proclamation of 1763
Royal Proclamation of 1763
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued October 7, 1763, by King George III following Great Britain's acquisition of French territory in North America after the end of the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
.
The British made some changes to the fort, and renamed it Fort St. Mark. As Great Britain was the dominant power in North America, they were not worried about keeping the fort in top condition. This attitude prevailed until the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. The fort was used as a military prison during the war. Among those imprisoned was Christopher Gadsden
Christopher Gadsden
Christopher Gadsden , a soldier and statesman from South Carolina, was the principal leader of the South Carolina Patriot movement in the American Revolution. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the War of Independence...
, the Lieutenant governor of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. He was also a delegate to the Continental Congress
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
and a brigadier general
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
in the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
during the war. He was released after 11 months.
Improvements were begun on the fort, in keeping with its new role as a base of operations for the British in the South
The South
-Geography:* Southern United States* South of England* South of France* South Italy* South Korea* Republic of Ireland* South Province * Global South, the developing nations of the world-Other uses:* The South , by Victor Erice...
. The gates and walls were repaired, and second floors were added to several rooms to increase the housing capacity of the fort. The Castillo saw action during the American Revolution mainly as a prison, although St. Augustine was targeted by several aborted expeditions from Georgia. Several revolutionary fighters who had been captured in Charleston were held there when it was taken by the British. The Spanish declared war on Britain in 1779, drawing off forces from Fort St. Mark and keeping the British occupied. Bernardo de Gálvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana, attacked several British-held cities in West Florida
West Florida
West Florida was a region on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. West Florida was first established in 1763 by the British government; as its name suggests it largely consisted of the western portion of the region...
, capturing all of them. The only major British operation that used troops from St. Augustine was the poorly-coordinated but successful capture of Savannah
Capture of Savannah
The Battle of Savannah, or sometimes the First Battle of Savannah due to a siege later in the campaign, was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on December 29, 1778 between local American Patriot militia and Continental Army units holding the city and a British invasion force under the...
, Georgia; the city was taken by troops from New York before those from St. Augustine arrived.
At the end of the war, the 1783 Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
called for the return of Florida to Spain. On July 12, 1784, Spanish troops returned to St. Augustine.
Second Spanish period
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
they found a much changed territory. Many Spaniards had left Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
after the hand over to Britain, and many British citizens stayed after the hand over back to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Many border problems arose between Spanish Florida and the new United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Spain changed the name of the fort back to the Castillo de San Marcos, and continued to build upon the improvements that Britain had made to the fort in an effort to strengthen Spain’s hold on the territory. However, due to increased pressure from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and several other factors, in 1819, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
signed the Adams-Onís Treaty
Adams-Onís Treaty
The Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty or the Purchase of Florida, was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that gave Florida to the U.S. and set out a boundary between the U.S. and New Spain . It settled a standing border dispute between the two...
, ceding Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
First United States period
Upon receiving the fort from Spain, the Americans changed its name to Fort Marion. Structurally, they made few changes to the fort during this time. Many storerooms were converted to prison cells on account of their heavy doors and barred windows. Also, part of the moat was filled in and transformed into a artillery batteryArtillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
as part of the American coastal defense system
Coastal defence and fortification
Coastal defence , Coastal defense and Coastal fortification are measures taken to provide protection against attack by military and naval forces at or near the shoreline...
. The original Spanish seawall was dismantled to ground level and a new seawall constructed immediately adjacent to the seaward side of the original. At this time a hotshot furnace was also built in the filled in section of the moat behind the newly built water battery. Cannonballs were heated in the furnace to fire at wooden enemy ships.
In October 1837, during the Second Seminole War
Second Seminole War
The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States, part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars...
, Seminole chief Osceola
Osceola
Osceola, also known as Billy Powell , became an influential leader with the Seminole in Florida. He was of Creek, Scots-Irish and English parentage, and had migrated to Florida with his mother after the defeat of the Creek in 1814.Osceola led a small band of warriors in the Seminole resistance...
was taken prisoner by the Americans while attending a peace conference under a flag of truce
White flag
White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...
. He was imprisoned in the fort along with his followers, including Uchee Billy
Uchee Billy
Uchee Billy or Yuchi Billy was a chief of the Yuchi tribe who along with his band escaped forced relocation from Georgia to Indian Territory by moving to the area of what is now Volusia County, Florida in 1822...
, King Philip
Ee-mat-la
Ee-mat-la, also known as King Philip, was a Seminole chief during the Second Seminole War.He was captured while camped at Dunlawton plantation, and held at Fort Marion...
and his son Coacoochee
Wild Cat (Seminole)
Wild Cat, born Coacoochee or Cowacoochee , was a leading Seminole chieftain during the later stages of the Second Seminole War as well as the nephew of Micanopy....
(Wild Cat). Uchee Billy was captured on September 10, 1837, and he died at the fort on November 29. His skull was kept as a curio by Dr. Frederick Weedon, who also decapitated
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
Osceola after his death in Fort Moultrie and kept the head in preservative.
On the night of November 19, 1837 Coacoochee along with Talmus Hadjo, 16 other Seminole braves and two Seminole women escaped from Fort Marion by squeezing through the eight inch (203 mm) opening of the embrasure
Embrasure
In military architecture, an embrasure is the opening in a crenellation or battlement between the two raised solid portions or merlons, sometimes called a crenel or crenelle...
located high in their cell and sliding down a makeshift rope into the moat. They made their way to their band's encampment where the Tomoka River
Tomoka River
The Tomoka River is a north-flowing river in Volusia County, Florida, United States. It drains an area of about and is the longest river in Volusia County , with a length of .- Geography :...
meet the Atlantic. Due to their treatment they vowed to continue fighting and prolonged the war for four more years. In the past Coacoochee's Cell from which he escaped was part of the official lore of the fort.
Confederate States period
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the opening months of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Union troops had withdrawn from the fort, leaving only one man behind as caretaker. In January 1861, Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
troops marched on the fort. The Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
soldier manning the fort refused to surrender it unless he was given a receipt for it from the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. He was given the receipt and the fort was taken by the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
without a shot. Most of the artillery in the fort was sent to other forts, leaving only five cannon in the water battery to defend the fort.
The Saint Augustine Blues
Saint Augustine Blues
The Saint Augustine Blues were a militia unit formed on May 12, 1860 in St. Augustine, Florida during the period of political instability in the United States preceding the outbreak of the American Civil War. The Blues officially entered the Confederate Army at Ft...
a militia unit formed in St Augustine were enrolled into the Confederate Army at Ft. Marion on August 5, 1861. They were assigned to the recently organized Third Florida Infantry as its Company B. More than a dozen former members of the St. Augustine Blues are buried in a row at the city's Tolomato Cemetery
Tolomato Cemetery
Tolomato Cemetery is a Catholic cemetery located on Cordova Street in St. Augustine, Florida. The cemetery was the former site of "Tolomato", a village of Guale Indian converts to Christianity and the Franciscan monks who ministered to them. The site of the village and Franciscan mission was is...
.
The fort along with the rest of the city of St Augustine was reoccupied by Union troops after acting mayor Cristobal Bravo officially surrendered the city to Union Navy fleet commander E.R.P Rodgers on March 11, 1862. The Confederate forces left the city the previous evening in anticipation of the arrival of the Union fleet under the command of Commodore Dupont
Samuel Francis du Pont
Samuel Francis Du Pont was an American naval officer who achieved the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy, and a member of the prominent Du Pont family; he was the only member of his generation to use a capital D...
.
Second United States period
The fort was taken back by Union forces on March 11, 1862, when the USS WabashUSS Wabash (1855)
USS Wabash was a steam screw frigate of the United States Navy that served during the American Civil War. She was based on the same plans as . Post-war she continued to serve her country in European operations and eventually served as a barracks ship in Boston, Massachusetts, and was sold in...
entered the bay, finding the city evacuated by Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
troops. The city leaders were willing to surrender in order to preserve the town, and the city and the fort were retaken without firing a shot. Throughout the rest of the fort's operational history, it was used as a military prison.
Beginning in 1875, numerous Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
prisoners were held at the fort in the aftermath of the Indian Wars in the west. Many would die at the fort. Among the captives were Chief White Horse
White Horse (chief)
White Horse White Horse White Horse (Kiowa: Tsen-tainte (? - 1892), was a chief of the Kiowa. White Horse attended the council between southern plains tribes and the United States at Medicine Lodge in southern Kansas which resulted in the Medicine Lodge Treaty...
of the Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
, and Chief Grey Beard
Grey Beard
Grey Beard was a Southern Cheyenne medicine man and chief. Among the Native American leaders and civilians rounded up at the end of the Red River War to be transported as a prisoner of war to Fort Marion in Florida, he is one of two who died during the incarceration.He was a leader of the...
of the Southern Cheyenne.
During this period, Richard Henry Pratt
Richard Henry Pratt
Richard Henry Pratt is best known as the founder and longtime superintendent of the influential Carlisle Indian Industrial School at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.-Military career:...
, a Civil War veteran, supervised the prisoners and upgraded the conditions for them. He developed ways to give the men more autonomy and attempted to organize educational and cultural programs for them. They became a center of interest to northerners vacationing in St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, who included teachers and missionaries. Pratt recruited volunteers to teach the Indian prisoners English, Christian religion, and elements of American culture. He and most US officials believed that such assimilation was needed for the Indians' survival in the changing society.
The men were also encouraged to make art; they created hundreds of drawings. Some of the collection of Ledger Art
Ledger Art
Ledger Art is a term for Plains Indian narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth. Ledger art was primarily from the 1860s to about 1900, although some of the old style drawing continues to the 1930s. There is also a contemporary group of accomplished Native American artists who work in the...
by Fort Marion artists is held by the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
. It may be viewed online.
Encouraged by the men's progress in education, citizens raised funds to send nearly 20 of the prisoners to college after they were released from Ft. Marion. Seventeen men went to the Hampton Institute, a historically black college. Others were sponsored and educated in New York state at private colleges. Among the latter were David Pendleton Oakerhater
David Pendleton Oakerhater
David Pendleton Oakerhater , also known as O-kuh-ha-tuh and Making Medicine, was a Cheyenne Indian warrior and spiritual leader, who became an artist and Episcopal deacon. Imprisoned in 1875 after the Indian Wars at Fort Marion , Florida, Oakerhater became one of the founding figures of modern...
, as he became known, who was sponsored by US Senator Pendleton
Pendleton
-Places:United States*Pendleton, Indiana*Pendleton, Missouri*Pendleton, New York*Pendleton, Oregon*Pendleton, South Carolina*Pendleton County, Kentucky*Pendleton, Texas*Pendleton County, West Virginia*Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, California...
and his wife. He studied and later was ordained as an Episcopal priest. He returned to the West to work as a missionary with Indian tribes. He was later recognized by the Episcopal Church as a saint.
Based on his experience at Fort Marion, Pratt recommended wider education of Indian children, a cause which Senator Pendleton embraced. He sponsored a bill supporting this goal, and the US Army offered the Carlisle Barracks
Carlisle Barracks
Carlisle Barracks is a United States Army facility located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is part of the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command and is the site of the U.S. Army War College...
in central Pennsylvania as the site of the first Indian boarding school. Its programs were developed along the industrial school
Industrial school
In Ireland the Industrial Schools Act of 1868 established industrial schools to care for "neglected, orphaned and abandoned children". By 1884 there were 5,049 children in such institutions....
model of Hampton and Tuskegee Institutes, which officials thought appropriate to prepare Native Americans for what was generally rural reservation life. Through the early 20th century, the government founded 26 other Indian boarding schools, and permitted more than 450 boarding schools run by religious organizations.
From 1886-1887, approximately 491 Apaches were held prisoner at Fort Marion; many were of the Chiricahua
Chiricahua
Chiricahua are a group of Apache Native Americans who live in the Southwest United States. At the time of European encounter, they were living in 15 million acres of territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico...
and Warm Springs Apache bands from Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. There were 82 men and the rest were women and children. Among the men, 14, including Chatto
Chatto (Apache)
Chatto was a Chiricahua Apache subchief who later became an Apache Scout. Following his service as a scout he was taken prisoner after being coerced to travel to Washington, D.C. Chatto was imprisoned in St...
, had previously been paid scouts for the US Army. Among the Chiricahua were members of the notable chief Geronimo's
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
band, including his wife. Geronimo was sent to Fort Pickens
Fort Pickens
Fort Pickens is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, Florida, area. It is named after American Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens. The fort was completed in 1834 and remained in use until 1947...
, in violation of his agreed terms of surrender. While at the fort, many of the prisoners had to camp in tents, as there was not sufficient space for them. At least 24 Apaches died as prisoners and were buried in North Beach.
In 1898, over 200 deserters from the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
were imprisoned at the fort. This marked one of the last uses of the fort as an operational base. In 1900, the fort was taken off the active duty rolls after 205 years of service under five different flags.
In 1924, the fort was designated a National Monument
U.S. National Monument
A National Monument in the United States is a protected area that is similar to a National Park except that the President of the United States can quickly declare an area of the United States to be a National Monument without the approval of Congress. National monuments receive less funding and...
. In 1933 it was transferred to the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
from the War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
. In 1942, in honor of its Spanish heritage, Congress authorized renaming the fort as Castillo de San Marcos. As an historic property of the National Park Service, the National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(NRHP) on October 15, 1966. The National Park Service manages the Castillo together with Fort Matanzas National Monument
Fort Matanzas National Monument
Commemorated in 1924, Fort Matanzas National Monument is a United States National Monument run by the National Park Service. The Monument consists of a 1740 Spanish fort, Fort Matanzas, and about 100 acres of salt marsh and barrier islands along the Matanzas River on the northern Atlantic coast...
. In 1975, the Castillo was designated an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Civil Engineers
The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...
.
Since being transferred to the Park Service, the Castillo has become a popular tourist attraction. It occupies 2.5 acres (10,100 m²) in downtown St. Augustine, Florida.