Old Fort Pierce Park is the site of Fort Pierce, a military installation constructed by the U.S. Army in 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...

 with the purpose of being a main supply depot for the army during the Second Seminole War. The modern town of Fort Pierce derives its name from this installation.

Fort Pierce, named for its first commander Benjamin Pierce, was built in 1838 and abandoned in 1842 at the end of 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...

, burning down the following year.

Today, the site is a park along the Indian River

Indian River (Florida)

The Indian River is a waterway in Florida, a part of the Indian River Lagoon system which forms the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It extends southward from the Ponce de Leon inlet in New Smyrna Beach, Florida [Volusia County] southward and across the "Haulover Canal" and along the western shore...

. The park is also the site of an ancient burial mound of the Ais

Ais (tribe)

The Ais, or Ays were a tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the Atlantic Coast of Florida. They ranged from present day Cape Canaveral to the St. Lucie Inlet, in the present day counties of Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and northernmost Martin...

Indians.

External links

• St. Lucie County listings, Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
• Ais Indians
• Old Fort Park 360 tour