Description
14" x 22" poster
Interpretive Copy
Seventy miles west of Key West, Florida lies the largest all-masonry fort in the United States. Fort Jefferson was built between 1846 and 1875 to defend the shipping gateway to the Gulf of Mexico. Named for the large number of sea turtles living around islands devoid of natural springs, Dry Tortugas was declared a national monument on January 4, 1935, and elevated to the status of national park in 1992.