Fort Foster (now known as Fort Foster Historic Site) is a

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 ...

era fort in central

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 ...

, located south of current-day

Zephyrhills Zephyrhills is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. The population was counted at 17,194 in the 2020 census. It is a suburb of the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area. Zephyrhills is also known as the headquarters of the Zephyrhil ...

Pasco County Pasco County is located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. According to the 2020 census, the population was 561,691. Its county seat is Dade City, and its largest city is Zephyrhills. The county is named after Samuel Pasco ...

. Fort Foster was originally built in December 1836 under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel William S. Foster on the site of Fort Alabama. On December 1, 1836 Colonel Foster arrived at the site with 430 men to rebuild the fort and bridge that had been destroyed months earlier. By December 19, he had erected two

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

s, a large storehouse and a fort. Then on December 22, Col. Foster departed with 180 men, and 25 wagons with provisions and forage to resupply Fort Armstrong. The remainder of his men were tasked with completing the bridge and powder magazine. On January 1, 1837, Col. Foster boasted in a letter to General R. Jones that, "the works at "Fort Foster" on the Hillsborough River. That Fort & Bridge form one of the best and strongest field fortifications ever erected against Indians." Fort Foster was a strategic fortification built for the protection of the bridge and with more importance on the supplies within. Fortified supply depots were continuously placed deeper into Seminole territory to allow the soldiers to operate in the field while they captured the hostile Seminoles. The armament and supplies at Fort Foster consisted as follows: A six-pounder gun and a twelve pounder howitzer with at least 100 rounds of ammunition for each. Forty thousand rounds of rifle powder and bullets. Fifty thousand ball and buckshot cartridges. Fifty thousand rations of subsistence and ten thousand bushels of corn. Tools of every description as well as iron, steel, nails, cordage, & etc. required for service in the field. In January 1837, the Army Soldiers were relieved to search out hostiles and build other forts. Fort Foster continued to be garrisoned as a supply post by Navy Lieutenant Thomas J. Leib, two midshipmen and about 50 sailors from . The 3rd and 4th Artillery Regiments provided Lt. Leib with 20 artillerymen to man the six-pound iron gun and twelve-pound howitzer to assist defending the fortification and bridge. The site was significant for several skirmishes in February 1837 during the Second Seminole War, when the sailors from USS ''Concord'' and the Artillerymen resisted hostile Seminole attacks and their attempts to burn the bridge. In March 1837, the sailors were relieved by members of the 1st and 2nd Artillery Regiments and 25 members of the Creek Indian Volunteers. During the summer, the fort was abandoned due to reductions in hostilities and an increase of disease among its forces, aka, the sickly season. Fort Foster was reactivated in the fall of 1837 to the summer 1838 to act as a supply post. Then it remained abandoned until 1841-1842, and again in 1849 when it only opened for short periods to meet the needs of the military when Seminole activity threatened.''The Florida Bicentennial Trail'' The fort site was added to the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on June 13, 1972. The fort was reconstructed on the site by the state and opened to the public in February 1980. It is owned and operated by th
Florida State Park
system a
Fort Foster State Historic Site
a part o
Hillsborough River State Park

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File:Fort Foster sign.jpg, Sign explaining background File:Fort Foster 4.jpg File:Fort Foster inside 2.jpg File:Fort Foster inside 4.jpg

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