History[edit]
Main article: Dry Tortugas
The first European to see the Dry Tortugas was Juan Ponce de León, who visited on June 21, 1513. Ponce de León caught 160 sea turtles there and subsequently referred to the islands as the "Tortugas" (turtles). They are called Dry owing to the absence of surface fresh water on the island. The archipelago includes a high concentration of historically significant shipwrecks dating from the 17th century to the present.[10] The Dry Tortugas were a significant American naval base from colonial times to the early 20th century, providing a sheltered anchorage and coaling station through the Spanish–American War.[11]
Florida was acquired from Spain by the United States in 1822. The Dry Tortugas were seen as a strategic point for the control of the Florida Straits and the Gulf of Mexico. Work on a lighthouse on Garden Key started in 1825. Planning for a fortification began almost immediately, and construction started in 1847. In 1856 work on a new, more powerful lighthouse on Loggerhead Key was started to replace the Garden Key light.[11]
Work was half complete in 1860. Construction continued into the American Civil War, but eventually stopped, and the fort was used as a military prison. It was here that Dr. Samuel Mudd, who was convicted of aiding John Wilkes Booth—the killer of President Abraham Lincoln—was imprisoned. Mudd later was freed after averting a viral outbreak. This use as a military prison continued until 1874.[11] With the introduction of coal-fueled ships, the Dry Tortugas became a coaling station for U.S. Navy ships.
Fort Jefferson[edit]
Main article: Fort Jefferson, Florida
Fort Jefferson is a massive but unfinished coastal fortress. It is the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere,[3][4] and is composed of more than 16 million bricks.
Park history[edit]
Comprising 47,125 acres (19,071 ha), Fort Jefferson National Monument was designated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt under the Antiquities Act on January 4, 1935. The monument was expanded in 1983 and redesignated as Dry Tortugas National Park on October 26, 1992, by an act of Congress.[12][13] Dry Tortugas is managed by the staff of Everglades National Park.[14] The park was established to protect the island and marine ecosystems of the Dry Tortugas, to preserve Fort Jefferson and submerged cultural resources such as shipwrecks, and to allow for public access in a regulated manner.[10]
During the Federal government shutdown of 1995 and 1996, Dry Tortugas was closed along with all other national parks. Seeing this as having a damaging effect on their tourism-dependent economy, the residents of Key West, Florida, raised money to keep Dry Tortugas open. The effort was inspired by the Smithsonian Institution, which raised private donations to keep its museums open during the shutdown.
Failing to find anybody to accept the money to reopen the park, Key West residents, under the auspices of the satirical micronation Conch Republic, sent a flotilla of civilian boats and fire department boats to Fort Jefferson in order to reopen the national park. When officials attempted to enter the fort, they were cited. The citation was contested in court the following year, and the resultant case, The United States of America v. Peter Anderson, was quickly dropped.
The park is a landing location for immigrants arriving from Cuba in homebuilt boats called "chugs." Receiving and housing the migrants is a particular problem for Dry Tortugas, which has limited resources for such arrivals and which is several hours from the nearest Coast Guard or Border Patrol units. Communications with Key West are accomplished using a satellite-based voice-over-IP system, which is prone to garbling and delays, and by a radio relay system using an abandoned Air Force tower between Key West and the Dry Tortugas.[14]
Visitation steadily rose for several decades, reaching a peak of 83,704 in 2000. Since then visitation has slowly declined, and now averages close to 60,000 per year.[2]
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