Fort Pickens

I am not a history buff but I love the architecture and symetry of these Florida Forts (See previous post on Dry Tortuga) Walking the halls, I could sense the history from the civil war and beyond.

Fort Pickens is a massive five-bastioned work, consisting of one tier of casemates and a barbette tier. It was designed to unleash a ring of fire from its seaward facing walls. Fort Pickens became the largest brick structure on the Gulf of Mexico. It exhibited the latest technologies in coastal defense design, construction, and weaponry. Fort Pickens was a mark of the growing power of the United States, and as a part of the Third System, it helped make America virtually impregnable, for a time.