Fort Pickens, FL and area

Located on Santa Rosa Island in the Pensacola, FL, area and named after Major General Andrew Pickens, an American Revolutionary War hero from the SC militia.  The fort was built by 1834 and remained in use until 1947.  Fort Pickens is a part of the Gulf Island National Seashore.  Fort Pickens was the largest of a group of forts designed to fortify Pensacola Harbor.  Pickens supplemented Fort Barrancas, Fort McRee, and the Navy Yard in the area.  During the Indian Wars, the famous Apache Indian Geronimo was imprisoned in Fort Pickens, along with several of his warriors.  Built in the day of wooden warships and cannons firing round balls, the fort underwent changes with the times making them obsolete by the end of WWII.

The road across the island to the campground washed out during Huricane Ivan causing the rebuild to be made low in one spot to allow overwash and sand build up during storms to protect the paved road.  Thus, the entrance road can flood and fill in with sand making it non passable.  Speaking of sand...this is the whitest sand I have ever seen.  The park service daily pushes the blown sand off the highway up into banks resembling winter snow banks.  I call this "sand snow".

 Naval Live Oaks Area (NLOA) is on the mainland at Pensacola.  The live oak ranges from southeastern Virginia to Texas.  Live oak is resistant to disease and decay which made it ideal for shipbuilding that began in the early 1700's.  One famous vessel was the USS Constitution who saw action against the British during the War of 1812, receiving the nickname "Old Ironsides" due to the strength of its live oak construction.  To ensure a future supply of this natural wood, the US Government reserved thousands of acres of southern woodlands to protect the tree from timber interests.  Thus the Naval Live Oaks Area was established as the first federal tree farm for ship building.  The live oaks lost their importance to the development of the ironclad warships.

The Naval Aviation Museum was established in 1962 and opened June 8, 1963, with their 50th Anniversary this year...2013.  The museum is devoted to the history of naval aviation > Navy > Marine Corps > and Coast Guard.  There are over 4,000 artifacts and more than 150 air and space crafts on display. 

 

 

 

Pensacola Lighthouse has an interesting past.  The first Pensacola light was the lightship Aurora Borealis that moved here from the mouth of the Mississippi in 1823 after a lighthouse was created there.  Rough seas caused the ship to take anchor inside the bay entrance making its light non reliable to ships at sea.  In 1825 a 40 foot tower was built on a 40 foot bluff at the south entrance to Pensacola Bay.  Its light partially obscured by trees a new tower was built in 1858 on the north side of the bay entrance.  This new 150 foot tower also sits on a 40 foot bluff located on the Pensacola Naval Air Station.  This makes the light 190 feet above sea level keeping ships safe.

 

Having fun.  See you by the campfire.