Old Fort Pierce Park is the site of Fort Pierce, a military installation constructed by the U.S. Army in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

with the purpose of being a main supply depot for the army during the Second Seminole War. The modern town of Fort Pierce derives its name from this installation. Fort Pierce, named for its first commander Benjamin Kendrick Pierce, was built in 1838 as a defensive position in the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and ...

. During the war, then second-lieutenant William Tecumseh Sherman was stationed at Fort Pierce. It was abandoned in 1842 at the end of the war and burned down the following year. Today, the site is a park along the Indian River. The park is also the site of an ancient burial mound of the Ais Indian tribe which extended from Cape Canaveral to the Saint Lucie inlet. This site once had a natural spring which made it a popular location for the Ais Indians and later for Spanish sailors who would stop here occasionally to refill their water jars before making the transatlantic crossing back to Spain. (1500-1750) It is not uncommon to find Spanish relics mixed with Indian potsherds in the river at that location.

References

External links

St. Lucie County listings
Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs
Ais Indians Old Fort Park 360 tour
Fort Pierce, Florida Parks in St. Lucie County, Florida National Register of Historic Places in St. Lucie County, Florida Seminole Wars Forts on the National Register of Historic Places in Florida {{StLucieCountyFL-NRHP-stub