Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park Beach

Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park is anchored by a massive red-brick fortress that once sat one thousand feet offshore on a submerged shoal. Built between eighteen forty-five and eighteen sixty-six, the fort was initially designed as a three-story defensive structure with five-foot-thick walls to protect the Key West harbor. It served as the headquarters for the Union’s East Gulf Coast Blockading Squadron during the Civil War, helping to maintain federal control over the southernmost port in the country.