Fort Dallas
Encyclopedia
Fort Dallas is a 5.9 acres (2.4 ha) urban park
Urban park
An urban park, is also known as a municipal park or a public park, public open space or municipal gardens , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality...

 in the Lummus Park Historic District
Lummus Park Historic District
The Lummus Park Historic District or simply Lummus Park, is a U.S. historic district and neighborhood in Miami, Florida. It is roughly bound by Northwest Fifth Street to the north, Flagler Street to the south, Northwest Third Avenue to the east, and the Miami River to the west. On October 25, 2006,...

 of Miami, 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...

, just west of Downtown
Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is an urban residential neighborhood, and the central business district of Miami, Miami-Dade County, and South Florida in the United States...

. It once acted as a military base during the Seminole Wars
Seminole Wars
The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between the Seminole — the collective name given to the amalgamation of various groups of native Americans and Black people who settled in Florida in the early 18th century — and the United States Army...

, located on the banks of the Miami River
Miami River (Florida)
The Miami River is a river in the United States state of Florida that drains out of the Everglades and runs through the Downtown and the city of Miami. The long river flows from the terminus of the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay...

 in what is now Downtown
Downtown Miami
Downtown Miami is an urban residential neighborhood, and the central business district of Miami, Miami-Dade County, and South Florida in the United States...

, Miami, 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...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

History

Old Fort Dallas was established on the plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

 of Richard Fitzpatrick in 1836 as a United States military post and cantonment (and not as a fortification, although it is more than probable that there was a stockade surrounding it in its early days) in southern Florida during the Seminole Wars
Seminole Wars
The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between the Seminole — the collective name given to the amalgamation of various groups of native Americans and Black people who settled in Florida in the early 18th century — and the United States Army...

. It was named in honor of Commodore Alexander James Dallas
Alexander J. Dallas (U.S. Navy officer)
Alexander James Dallas was an officer in the United States Navy....

, United States Navy, then in command of the United States naval forces in the West Indies.

The first commandant was Lieutenant F. M. Powell, who remained in command about two years. From 1836 to 1857 it was occupied much of the time by troops, but was not a military reservation. Quite a number of buildings were erected, and today only two remain. In addition to these, there were a dozen comfortable dwellings besides the slave quarters, stables, and a blacksmith forge. The Post Surgeon occasionally took meteorological observations.

Fort Dallas remained in 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...

 hands during 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...

 and was abandoned afterward. During the war, the place was occupied by refugees from many places, and at the close of the war by a band of desperadoes. Judah P. Benjamin, who served as Attorney General, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State for the Confederacy, made his escape to Cuba through Indian River and Bay Biscayne. In describing the trip, he refers to the rough treatment he received at the hands of occupants of the fort, but, he added that it was a beautiful and picturesque spot, with its white houses and fine parade ground. The interior of the fort has been improved, and care has been taken to preserve the exterior unchanged.

When the soldiers left, the fort became the base for a tiny village established by William H. English, the new owner, which he called Miami. Some of the buildings were razed to the ground and removed to other locations, and in 1872, while the property was occupied by Dr. Harris, all the remaining buildings except the two still standing were burned, the fire originating accidentally in the house occupied by Dr. Harris.

In 1891, Julia Tuttle
Julia Tuttle
Julia DeForest Tuttle, was an entrepreneur, citrus farmer and businesswoman who was largely responsible for, and the original owner of, the land upon which Miami, Florida, was built...

 brought her family to live in a large home on the Miami River
Miami River (Florida)
The Miami River is a river in the United States state of Florida that drains out of the Everglades and runs through the Downtown and the city of Miami. The long river flows from the terminus of the Miami Canal at Miami International Airport to Biscayne Bay...

 that had been in use when Fort Dallas occupied the spot. Tuttle repaired and converted the home into one of the show places in the area with a sweeping view of the river and Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay
Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is...

.

The “barracks”, as they are called, remained on the site as the only remnant of the fort until 1924 when an apartment building was slated to occupy the site. The coquina stone building was disassembled in sections and moved to Lummus Park on the north side of the Miami River at Northwest River Drive and North Third Street. This barracks served as plantation slave quarters, then as army barracks during the Seminole Wars, and, before being moved here stone by stone, finally as Julia Tuttle's home in 1891.

In 1895, following the successful efforts of Tuttle and fellow landowner William Brickell
William Brickell
William Brickell joined Julia Tuttle as a co-founder of Miami, Florida.Brickell and his wife Mary moved to southern Florida from Cleveland, Ohio in 1871...

 to attract a railroad, Fort Dallas was part of the site of the new city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...

 of Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

 when Henry M. Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railway
Florida East Coast Railway
The Florida East Coast Railway is a Class II railroad operating in the U.S. state of Florida; in the past, it has been a Class I railroad.Built primarily in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the FEC was a project of Standard Oil principal Henry Morrison...

 south from Palm Beach
Palm Beach, Florida
The Town of Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The Intracoastal Waterway separates it from the neighboring cities of West Palm Beach and Lake Worth...

. Perhaps coincidentally, Tuttle, Brickell, and Flagler were all originally from Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

.

External links

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