BUCKET LIST UPDATE No. 192: Visit Fort Pickens

Fort Pickens near Pensacola, Fla.

Fort Pickens is an old fort on Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, Fla. Construction of the fort began in 1829 and was completed in 1834. Named after Revolutionary War hero General Andrew Pickens, the fort was in use by the U.S. military until 1947.

For most of my life, I’ve lived a short drive from Fort Pickens, but to the best of my knowledge, I’d never been there before, which is why I added a trip to this fort to my “bucket list” a year or so ago. On Saturday, I made the short trip to Fort Pickens and spent about an hour touring it inside and out. I was not disappointed.

After we arrived and parked, we made a quick stop at the Visitors Center, where we picked up a self-guided tour brochure. Armed with this eight-page brochure, we took our time and checked out the entire fort. In all, it probably took us 1-1/2 hours to thoroughly cover the entire grounds.

I was especially interested in the fort’s Civil War history. In January 1861, just a few days after Florida seceded from the Union, U.S. forces under the command of Lt. Adam J. Slemmer refused to surrender Fort Pickens to Florida militia troops. During the rest of the war, Confederates threatened Pickens on and off, but the fort remained in Union hands throughout the war.

During our tour of the fort, we also checked out the “quarters” along the fort’s south wall, where Apache war leader Geronimo was housed in the late 1880s. According to one source, Geronimo and 14 other Apache warriors arrived at Fort Pickens on Oct. 25, 1886. Eventually, the Army moved the Apaches to Mount Vernon Barracks near Mobile, Ala. on May 12, 1888.

Another cool aspect of the fort is its creepy tunnels. The creepiest is the tunnel through Pensacola Battery. According to the brochure, Battery Pensacola was built in 1898 and a tunnel was placed through the battery to allow access to warehouse areas on the south side of Fort Pickens. The tunnel was closed in 1922, but today, if you’ve brave enough, you can walk all the way from the mouth of the tunnel, into the pitch black and all the way back to where it’s walled off. It was so dark in there that my pocket flashlight did little to penetrate the darkness.

You’ll also find another series of tunnels in what’s called the Mine Chambers. This tunnel system leads to three chambers, each designed to hold about 1,000 pounds of gunpowder. These tunnels were really low, and it’s impossible for a normal-sized adult to walk from one end of them to the other without crouching.

The fort also featured a number of cannons. None of them appeared to be in working order, but most appeared to be in good shape and in their original locations. These unique cannons ranged from the very large to the very small and were all worth checking out.

In the end, how many of you have ever been to Fort Pickens? What did you think about it? What other old fortifications would you recommend visiting? Let us know in the comments section below.