Fort Pickens, Santa Rosa Island, Florida

Thanks to funding from SEA’s 2019 Elsaesser Fellowship, my Expedition continues...

 Fort Pickens is a United States military fortification on Santa Rosa Island in Pensacola Bay, Florida. Fort Pickens is named after Andrew Pickens, a hero of the American Revolution. The fort was initially completed in 1834 and remained in use until the just after the end of World War II (in 1947).

Fort Pickens is one of the Third System of U.S. Fortifications, that was meant to enhance the older wooden,  earthen work and simple, earlier obsolete designs of the First and Second System of Fortifications. Fort Pickens is Pentagonal in design, much like most of the other third system “Star Forts” (See Fort Jackson). Fort Pickens was constructed with a broad western wall to provide a wide range of fire over the bay, and a counterscarp to the east side built to act as a defensive moat in the event of infantry incursion coming from the west side of the island. 


























































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