Construction of Fort Zachary Taylor began in 1845, shortly after Florida became a state. In 1850, the fort was named after U.S. President Zachary Taylor, who died in office earlier that year.
Gallery pages:  <  1  2  3  4  5  6  >  >>
< 10 of 56 >
Denise > Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008)
Denise > Fort Zachary Taylor (Key West) / June 6, 2008 photo
Denise > Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008)
Denise > Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008) Both batteries, Adair and Osceola, were built a little before the war with Spain in 1898, but their construction was wrought with problems from the beginnings. The construction engineers had very little steel reinforcement to support the cement. Sea sand was added to the mix virtually assuring that the salts and lime would slowly leach out and further undermine the struture. When Adair was operational, it held four rapid-firing anti-patrol boat 18-pounder guns. In 1920, the guns were dismantled. Adair is currently condemned. Unlike the bedrock where the old Civil War fort sits, the batteries sit on fill-land and eventually are expected to collapse from the lack of a stable foundation.
Denise > Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008) This is a partially-excavated cannon which was used to reinforce the concrete during the building of the batteries. There were thousands of pounds of gun powder and artillery shells inside these batteries, which the engineers thought the old cannon would help protect from a direct hit.
Denise > Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008) Partially-excavated cannon
Denise > Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008)
Denise > Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008)
Denise > Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008)
Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008)
> Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008)
Fort Zachary Taylor State Park - Key West (June 6, 2008)
Gallery pages:  <  1  2  3  4  5  6  >  >>
< 10 of 56 >

Comments

|

New comment:

Name: Email: Link:


To foil spammers, enter this code: copy this text in this box: Code unreadable?