Timelapse photography of Fort Jefferson in Dry Tortugas National Park
An evening pause: From the youtube webpage: “On a remote island hours away from Key West lies the largest masonry structure in the Americas: Fort Jefferson. Built with 16 million bricks, but never finished, the fort served as a prison during Civil War. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, upon visiting the island, named it a National Monument, and in 1992 it became part of Dry Tortugas National Park.”
Hat tip Wayne DeVette.
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That was really cool, we have some really good forts here in NC but that was awesome. I am a bit ashamed to say but I didn’t know anything about it. Thanks for sharing!
Ron-
You do have some really good forts, in NC.! (We have “Colonial Fort Michilimackinac” on Mackinaw Island, (Upper Peninsula, Michigan) but it’s not made out of brick.
I’ve never been to Fort Jefferson, but it’s definitely on my List.
Interesting Sheldon Cooper factoid; it’s called “dry” Tortuga, because they do not have any fresh water source on those keys.
https://www.nps.gov/drto/index.htm
Bucket list update….
I remember it as the prison they sent Dr. Mudd (of Lincoln assassination fame) to.
He helped during a Yellow Fever outbreak there which helped him regain his freedom.
eddie-
Good stuff. Great historical factoid.
I’m a relative newcomer to the Tortuga’s, I knew they existed & there was a Fort, but I as well am ashamed to admit, I did not appreciate the extent or the history attached.
-I’m all-in for a day trip by ferry.
Has anyone done the Route-66 Trip?
wayne asked: “Has anyone done the Route-66 Trip?”
Yes. It is definitely touristy, but the tourist stops can be a lot of fun. There are plenty of guide books available so that you don’t miss any of the tourist stops that interest you.
As engineers, my father and I found some non-tourist stops along the way, and we have relatives at both ends of the route as an added benefit. We didn’t get a tour of an active solar farm (old-style, not photo-voltaic) in the Mojave desert, but we got to talk to an engineer there, and we got to see the less effective older half of the farm come online (point to the sun) as the wispy clouds cleared.
Come to think of it, we mostly only got to talk to engineers rather than get tours. I guess that counts as fun, too, for engineers.
Edward-
good deal on the Route-66 adventures! Been on portions in Illinois, but no further west or ‘back-in-time,’ as it were.
Done my share of Interstate driving and although it’s nice, I much more prefer the “back route,” if at all possible. Have a nice sampling of pre-interstate, State road maps, (ca 1945-1957) It’s amazing to see the Country knitted together with highways. (tangentially, printed State road-maps are getting hard to acquire.)
Top 10 Longest Interstate Highways in U.S.A
https://youtu.be/TJ3av3vRelk
1:25
wayne,
As an erstwhile Upe, I need to point out that Fort Michilimackinac is actually outside Mackinaw City on the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, not on the Upper Peninsula and not on Mackinaw Island either – which also isn’t part of the Upper Peninsula come to that. Mackinaw Island is off to the east of the Big Mac bridge that joins the Peninsulas between St. Ignace in the U.P. and Mackinaw City in the L.P.
Also, unlike Fort Jefferson and, I presume, the referenced forts in NC, Fort Michilimackinac is entirely a re-creation based on historical records. No part of the original fort survives. It was a wooden stockade fort. Those tend not to be too durable and also quite vulnerable to fire.
If you want real permanence, stone and/or brick are the only way to go. Just ask the Pharaoh Khufu if you don’t believe me.
Dick–
Thank you for the reality orientation! (I truly am losing my mind lately!) It’s Fort Mackinac, that is on the island.
Tangentially– I’m dying to stay at the Grand Hotel for a few days, but I can’t get over the sticker-shock.