Fort Matanzas National Monument ( es, Fuerte Matanzas) was designated a United States National Monument on October 15, 1924. The monument consists of a 1740 Spanish fort called Fort Matanzas, and about 100 acres (0.4 km²) of salt marsh and barrier islands along the Matanzas River on the northern Atlantic coast of Florida. It is operated by the National Park Service in conjunction with the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in the city of

St. Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...

History

Fort Matanzas was built by the Spanish in 1742 to guard Matanzas Inlet, the southern mouth of the Matanzas River, which could be used as a rear entrance to the city of St. Augustine. Such an approach avoided St. Augustine's primary defense system, centered at Castillo de San Marcos. In 1740, Gov. James Oglethorpe of Georgia used the inlet to blockade St. Augustine and launch a thirty-nine-day siege. St. Augustine endured the siege, but the episode convinced the Spanish that protecting the inlet was necessary to the security of the town. Under Gov. Manuel de Montiano's orders, construction of the fort began that year and was completed in 1742. Engineer Pedro Ruiz de Olano, who had worked on additions to the Castillo de San Marcos, designed the fortified observation tower. Convicts, slaves, and troops from Cuba were used as labor to erect the structure, which was sited on present-day Rattlesnake Island and had a commanding position over Matanzas Inlet. The fort, known to the Spanish as ''Torre de Matanzas'' (Matanzas Tower), is a masonry structure made of

coquina Coquina () is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of the shells of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term ''coquina'' ...

, a common shellstone building material in the area. The marshy terrain was stabilized by a foundation of pine pilings to accommodate a building long on each side with a high tower. The standard garrison of the fort was one officer in charge, four infantrymen, and two gunners, though more troops could be stationed if necessary. All soldiers at Fort Matanzas served on rotation from their regular duty in St. Augustine. Five cannon were placed at the fort—four six-pounders and one eighteen-pounder. All guns could reach the inlet, which at the time was less than half a mile away. In 1742, as the fort was nearing completion, the British under Oglethorpe approached the inlet with twelve ships. Cannon fire drove off the scouting boats, and the warships left without engaging the fort. This brief encounter was the only time Fort Matanzas fired on an enemy. Spain lost control of Florida with the

1763 Treaty of Paris The Treaty of Paris, also known as the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain and Prussia's victory over France and Spain during the S ...

, and regained control with the

1783 Treaty of Paris The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and overall state of conflict ...

. With the Spanish Empire falling apart, Spain spent little effort maintaining the fort after this time. When the United States took control of Florida in 1821, the fort had deteriorated to the point where soldiers could not live inside.Arana Waterbury 1999, p. 110. The United States never used the fort and it became a ruin. Fort Matanzas was named for the inlet, which acquired its name after the executions, or ''matanzas'' (Spanish: slaughters), on its north shore, of Jean Ribault and his band of Huguenot Frenchmen, the last of the Fort Caroline colonists, by the Spanish in 1565.

Restoration and modern use

In 1916, the U.S Department of War began a major restoration of the badly deteriorated fort. By 1924, three vertical fissures in the wall were repaired and the structure was stabilized; in the same year, National Monument status was proclaimed. Fort Matanzas was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service on August 10, 1933. As a historic area under the Park Service, the National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

Headquarters and Visitor Center

The Fort Matanzas National Monument Headquarters and Visitor Center, located at 8635

A1A State Road A1A (SR A1A) is a major north–south Florida State Road that runs along the Atlantic Ocean, from Key West at the southern tip of Florida, to Fernandina Beach, just south of Georgia on Amelia Island. It is the main road throug ...

about south of

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

, was built in 1936. Located on Anastasia Island, it services the Fort Matanzas National Monument, a five-minute boat ride away. It was designed by the National Park Service's Eastern Div. of Plans & Design in what is called

National Park Service Rustic National Park Service rustic – sometimes colloquially called Parkitecture – is a style of architecture that developed in the early and middle 20th century in the United States National Park Service (NPS) through its efforts to create buildings ...

architectural style, and includes a museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. The listing included two

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

and one contributing site on . Fort Matanzas visitor center03

The main building is a two-story building with an arched walk-through breezeway that serves as the visitor center and includes a ranger residence as well. The walls of its first floor are made of

block masonry, and the second floor is wood framed with wood siding. It has a hipped roof. The one-story second building, to the north, is also hip-roofed and has coquina walls. It is a utility building that now serves as a ranger office. Visitors wait at the center to take a five-minute boat ride to the historic

Fort Matanzas A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, which is located across Matanzas Inlet on Rattlesnake Island. The buildings and the surrounding landscaping was designed by architects of the Eastern Division Branch of Plans and Design of the National Park Service. Additional designed features include flagstone walkways and sidewalks, an exterior staircase, a retaining wall, parking areas and roads and curbs. with

Gallery

Ft. Matanzas 1937.jpg, Sentry Box on barbazan, Fort Matanzas, 1937 Fort Mantanzas.JPG, Fort Matanzas in the distance Map of Fort Matanzas National Monument.png, Map showing strategic location of Fort Matanzas Fort Matanzas visitor center3.jpg, Visitor center View of Fort Matanzas from the fort%27s ferry.jpg View of the roof of Fort Matanzas.jpg Fort_Matanzas gun deck, showing 3 pounder gun-2.jpg Fort Matanzas inside01.jpg, Interior Fort Matanzas river view-2.jpg

References

* National Park Service, Department of the Interior. ''Fort Matanzas - Official Map and Guide''. 2002.

External links

* * *Web Archive, read onlin
Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas National Monuments, Florida: Historical Research Management Plan
{{authority control National Park Service National Monuments in Florida National Register of Historic Places in St. Johns County, Florida Protected areas established in 1924

Matanzas Matanzas (Cuban ) is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Known for its poets, culture, and Afro-Cuban folklore, it is located on the northern shore of the island of Cuba, on the Bay of Matanzas (Spanish ''Bahia de Matanzas''), east ...

Parks in St. Johns County, Florida Museums in St. Augustine, Florida Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida 1924 establishments in Florida Spanish Florida Military and war museums in Florida