San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park#History

{{short description|Archaeological site in Florida, United States}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Fort San Marcos De Apalache

| nrhp_type = nhl

| image = StMarksFrtBombproofWall.JPG

| caption = One of the small remaining portions of the stone wall of the Spanish fort, San Marcos de Apalache.

| location = 18 mi. S of Tallahassee, St. Marks, Florida

| nearest_city = St. Marks, Florida

{{cite web

|url = http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=169&ResourceType=Site

|title = Fort San Marcos De Apalache

|work = National Historic Landmark summary listing

|publisher = National Park Service

|access-date = 2008-06-21

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090120061132/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceID=169&resourceType=Site

|archive-date = 2009-01-20

}}

| coordinates = {{coord|30|09|18|N|84|12|40|W|display=inline}}

| locmapin = Florida#USA

| area =

| designated_nrhp_type = November 13, 1966

| added = November 13, 1966

| visitation_num =

| visitation_year =

| refnum = 66000271

}}

San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park is a Florida State Park in Wakulla County, Florida organized around the historic site of a Spanish colonial fort (known as Fort St. Marks by the English and Americans), which was used by succeeding nations that controlled the area. The Spanish first built wooden buildings and a stockade in the late 17th and early 18th centuries here, which were destroyed by a hurricane.

The stone fort was built beginning in 1753. It came under successive control by Great Britain, Spain, the United States and, lastly, the Confederacy during the American Civil War. A U.S. Marine Hospital was built from the materials of the fort. The US took control of the site again in 1865, and the fort site was abandoned.

On November 13, 1966, the fort area was designated a National Historic Landmark because of its significance and added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

{{cite web

| url = {{NHLS url|id=66000271}}

| title = Fort San Marcos de Apalache

| author = Blanche Higgins Schroer

| work = National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination

| publisher = National Park Service }} Designated as a National Engineering Landmark, the fort site has been highlighted on the Florida Native American Heritage Trail. On October 10, 1962, Congress authorized designating Fort Saint Marks as a National Historic Site[http://uscode.house.gov/statviewer.htm?volume=76&page=807 Public Law 87-789] upon donation of the site to the National Park Service. That donation apparently never happened, however, and the site remains a Florida State Park and a National Historic Landmark.

The historic park is located in the vicinity of St. Marks, off S.R. 363, at 148 Old Fort Road.

History

In 1679, the Spanish built a wooden stockade at this site which they called San Marcos de Apalache. It was part of their colonial expansion in the northwestern Florida area. A settlement developed around the fort beginning about 1733. Another wooden structure was built about 1753. The wooden fort was destroyed and the garrison drowned, during a hurricane.

In 1759, the Spanish began to build a stone fort, designed to resist bombardment by ships. They abandoned it to Indians for use as a trading post after ceding this territory to the British following the defeat of France in the Seven Years' War, also known as the French and Indian War. The British had a garrison at the fort.

But, following the American Revolutionary War, the British traded some territory with Spain, which took over West and East Florida again. (St. Marks was in East Florida; the boundary was the Apalachicola River). Spanish forces reoccupied the San Marcos fort in 1783, and they strengthened its defenses. American settlers began penetrating the Southeast after the Revolution, settling deeper into Georgia and into the Mississippi and Alabama Territories.

General Andrew Jackson led some raids into this area during the First Seminole War and had his forces seize the Spanish Florida fort in 1818. In April 1818, the Fort was the site of the Arbuthnot and Ambrister incident. The U.S. occupied it for nearly a year. The Fort St. Marks military cemetery was established at that time, for the burial of men who died at the garrison. A total of 19 men were buried in the cemetery; most died from diseases, including dysentery and consumption. In 1819, the United States purchased East and West Florida from Spain, via the Adams-Onis Treaty, including the fort site.

In 1859, the federal government built a marine hospital here, using stones and other materials from the old fort. It provided care for sick seamen and area yellow fever victims.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33VUAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA12|title=Annual report of the Supervising Surgeon-General of the Marine Hospital Service of the United States|date=1872|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|pages=7–21|language=en}}

During the Civil War, the Confederate army took over the fort, after Florida seceded from the Union. U.S. forces regained control in 1865, in the last year of the war.{{cite web|title=San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park - St. Marks, Florida|url=http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/sanmarcos1.html|publisher=Explore Southern History|access-date=June 17, 2012}}

Remains of the stone fort are in evidence at the site. A museum and visitor center have been built on the foundation of the old hospital. A stone well and a retaining wall have been reconstructed nearby, based on archeological documentation.

Recreational activities

The park has such amenities as hiking and picnicking areas.

References

Gallery

File:San Marcos de Apalache SP cemetery marker01.jpg|Marker for Fort St. Marks Military Cemetery (1818-1819)

File:San Marcos de Apalache SP cemetery01.jpg|Gravesites in the military cemetery

File:San Marcos de Apalache SP fort site01.jpg|Fort site, rivers in distance

File:San Marcos de Apalache SP marker01a.jpg|Marker for the state historic park

File:San Marcos de Apalache SP NHL plaque01.jpg|National Historic Landmark plaque

File:San Marcos de Apalache SP St Marks and Wakulla Rivers01.jpg|View from the fort of St. Marks and Wakulla Rivers' confluence

File:San Marcos de Apalache SP VC02.jpg|Museum built on foundations of Civil War hospital; reconstructed well and wall

External links

[https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/san-marcos-de-apalache-historic-state-park San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park] at [https://www.floridastateparks.org Florida State Parks]
[http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/sanmarcos1.html San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park], at Explore Southern History, includes detailed information and photos of the park

{{coord|30.155|-84.211|type:landmark_region:US-FL|format=dms|display=title}}

Category:Archaeological sites in Florida

Category:State parks of Florida

Ward

Category:National Historic Landmarks in Florida

Category:Spanish colonization of the Americas

Category:Spanish Florida

Category:Parks in Wakulla County, Florida

Category:Museums in Wakulla County, Florida

Category:Military and war museums in Florida

Category:History museums in Florida

Category:Protected areas established in 1966