Gulf Islands National Seashore: Fort Pickens: Aerial

Fort Pickens, within the National Seasore, is located on the western tip of Santa Rosa Island. The fort, named for Brigadier General Andrew Pickens of the South Carolina State Troops in the American Revolution, was built between 1829 and 1834. The Army Corp of Engineers used 21,500,000 bricks to build the original five-sided fort. During the Civil War, Fort Pickens remained in Union hands, Federal troops engaged in artillery duels with Confederate soldiers who held Fort Barrancas. In the 1880's, the Apache Indian Geronimo was imprisoned at Fort Pickens. The fort was expnaded during the Spanish-American War but then fell into disuse. The restored fort is open for tours. (Source: Johnson, Sandra and Virginia Parks. "Pensacola: The Old and the New". ISBN 0-939566-05-02)