Off the beaten track in Key West, Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park offers beauty and history
I had been to Key West many times before I got to Fort Zachary
Taylor Historic State Park. Apparently, I am not alone. In reviews on
Yelp, folks talk about it as “my little hidden secret.”
The reason Fort Zachary Taylor is not better known is probably its
location: When in Key West, the only indication of the fort is a small street sign.
Because it is on the water behind the Truman Annex, you don’t pass it while
walking or driving.
Fort Zach, as locals call it, is only visited by people who seek
it out. Here are five good reasons to do just that:
·
The Civil War fort is a beautiful relic, with brick archways built
by Irish and British craftsmen who learned the castle- and fort-building trade
from generations of artisans.
·
Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park has the largest collection
of Civil War armaments in the United States – amazing cannons, even if you’re
not into cannons.
·
The Fort Zachary Taylor beach, at the point where the Atlantic
Ocean meets the Gulf of Mexico, is Key West’s best beach with clear water, good
snorkeling and a shaded picnic area.
·
The rock-lined western shore is a serene and awe-inspiring place
to watch a famous Key West sunset without a crowd.
·
With a $6 admission and ample parking, it ranks as one of the best
buys on the island.
The beach at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
Lots of visitors to Key West complain they didn’t get the memo
about its poor beaches. I’ll tell you straight up: If it’s beaches you
want, I have a lot better places I recommend visiting!
The beach at Fort Zachary Taylor is considered the best, however.
It is quite rocky, so water shoes are somewhere between helpful and essential.
The water, however, is clear Caribbean blue, a mix of the Gulf and Atlantic.
Other beaches in Key West are shallow with water that tends to be stagnant and
murky.
At Fort Zachary Taylor, the rocky bottom and rock formations off
shore attract a number of tropical fish, so it makes a good spot for snorkeling
from shore. (You do need to swim out into water too deep to stand in, so young
snorkelers will benefit from life preservers.)
Along the sandy beach are picnic tables shaded by Australian
pines. Though an exotic species, Keys residents begged to keep them, and
visitors are thankful for the shade.
Near the beach is Cayo Hueso Café, which offers
reasonably priced sandwiches, snacks and cold beverages served on a shaded
patio overlooking the beach. (No sandwich costs more than $9; a hot dog or
slice of pizza is $4 to $5.)
Given Key West prices, a day at Fort Zachary Taylor and lunch at
Café Hueso is a cheap and wonderful day of fun.
Touring Fort Zachary Taylor
You can tour Fort Zach on your own with an informative free
brochure or take a daily free guided tour at 11 a.m. I recommend the tour: Our
guide, a knowledgeable ranger, told the history as a series of interesting
stories.
With hurricanes, disease and the need to ship in bricks and
granite from New York, this fort took 21 years to build. Even though not
complete during the Civil War, it was held by Union forces, a key tool in
enforcing the blockade that prevented supplies from reaching Confederate ports.
While the fort had plenty of guns – 165 – they were never fired
except for practice. The fort played an important role in World War I and II
and again in the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
After the late 1960s, Fort Zachary Taylor’s brilliant past had
dimmed. The fort, once three stories high, was reduced to two during the
Spanish American war.
Dredging of a ship channel resulted in earth being piled around
the fort, which once was surrounded by water. What’s worse: Most of its
Civil War era cannons were missing.
But in 1968, Key West resident Howard England began excavations
inside the fort and discovered that during modifications for the Spanish
American war, dozens of historic cannons were buried in the fort’s walls to
reinforce Battery Osceola.
Some were removed, acid-cleaned and displayed.
Others remain embedded in the walls: Now it’s a visible graveyard
of Civil War cannons.
England’s work established Fort Zachary Taylor as the place with
the most Civil War cannons in the country and the fort was on its way to
becoming a state park. The park’s entry road is named after England.
Sunset at Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park
The park stays open through sunset every night,
and visitors in the know keep their admission receipt and come back at
dusk to watch the big golden ball drop into the water.
There are a few picnic tables with sunset views, but many folks
sit on the rocks, surreptitiously sipping wine (alcohol is prohibited in state
parks). The sunset boats cruise by with sails spread.
You couldn’t ask for a better view. As soon as the sun sets, a
ranger will send you on your way and close the park.
On bikes, we pedaled just outside the park to the adjacent seawall
at the Truman Waterfront at the foot of Southard Street and watched darkness fall.
That, too, is an off-the-beaten-path spot to gaze at the ocean in Key West.
A trip to Fort Zach is a great way to unwind after a day of looking at Florida Keys homes for sale with me. Let's plan it.
Gary
