Castillo de San Marcos
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Description
Castillo de San Marcos took from 1672 to 1695 to be constructed. It was built by a combination of Spanish, Florida and Georgia Indian (Guale, Timucua, and Apalache), convict, and slave laborers. Unless a convict or slave, all the men were paid, although the payscale for a day's work was not equal:
Spanish = 10 to 12 reales ($2-$2.40 in 1977 currency)
Spanish laborer = 4 reales (80 cents in 1977 currency)
Indian laborer = 1 real (20 cents in 1977 currency)
Indian carpenter = 8 reales ($1.60 in 1977 currency)
Convicts and slaves = food and housing
In 1702 the Castillo withstood a British siege that ended with the burning of the city. In 1740, it withstood another British siege under the command of James Oglethrope. From the 1740s to 1750s, the fort was renovated to strengthen its defenses and increase the size of the rooms. In 1763, Florida was handed over to the British who changed the name to Fort St. Mark.
In 1783, Florida was returned to Spanish rule, and in 1821 St. Augustine became part of the new U.S. Florida Territory. In 1825 the name was changed to Fort Marion in honor of South Carolina's "Swamp Fox," Francis Marion. The most famous prisoner held at Fort Marion was Osceola during the 2nd Seminole War. In the 1840s, the U.S. Army improved the weaponry defenses of Fort Marion.
The fort served as part of the Confederate coastal defenses from 1861 to 1862 before peacefully surrendering to the Union Army and Navy. In 1875, Plains Indians were brought to the fort as prisoners where attempts to Anglicize and Christianize them were undertaken. In the late 1880s, a second group of Native Americans, the Apaches, were brought to Fort Marion for a brief imprisonment before being transferred elsewhere.
In 1933 the fort was transferred from the U.S. Army to the National Park Service. In 1942, its name was changed back to Castillo de San Marcos.
Has Part
Mediator
Rights Holder
11 S. Castillo Dr.
St. Augustine, FL 32084
Source
The following books, articles, websites, and photographers were used to find the above photographs or illustrations:
Photograph 1 (c.1671): [Montanus, Arnoldus Montanus. De nieuwe en onbekende Weereld: of beschryving van America en 't Zuid-Land, vervaetende d'Oorsprong der Americaenen en Zuid-landers, gedenkwaerdige togten derwaerds, Gelegendheid der vaste Kusten, Eilanden, Steden, Sterkten, Dorpen, Tempels etc. : Verciert met Af-beeldsels na 't leven in America gemaekt, en beschreeven. Amsterdam, c.1671.]
Photograph 2 (c.1870s): Courtesy of the Flagler College Archives. https://library.flagler.edu/college-archives/.
Photograph 3 (c. 1900s): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Charleston, SC: Acadia Publishing, 2008.
Photograph 4 (2023): Augusty, Jean-Marc. "A Picture of the Castillo de San Marcos (1)." March 11, 2023.
Photograph 5 (1902) & 6 (c.1910s): Bowen, Beth Rogero, and the St. Augustine Historical Society. St. Augustine in the Gilded Age. Charleston, SC: Acadia Publishing, 2008.
Photograph 7 (2023): Augusty, Jean-Marc. "A Picture of the Castillo de San Marcos (2)." March 5, 2023.
The following books, articles, and/or websites were used to find information about this location:
Arana, Luis Rafael and Albert Manucy. The Building of Castillo de San Marcos. [Washington, D.C.]: Eastern National Park & Monument Association for Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, 1977.
National Park Service “Castillo de San Marcos.” Brochure. Located on National Park Service: NP Gallery; Digital Asset Management System. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/188aafad-3506-4320-bb18-291db7524e33/original?.
Tikkanen, Amy, reviewer. “Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.” Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Castillo-de-San-Marcos-National-Monument.
Rights
Is Referenced By
The following St. Augustine Fiction books feature this building as a location:
After Dark
Andrew Ranson, St. Augustine's Pirate
Anna's Long Journey to Freedom
Bad Latitude
Bad News Travels
Barden, the Ranger
Barracuda
Beautiful Dreamer
The Bones of the Holy
Bright Feather
Candledancer
The Case of the Deadly Diary
Chasing Shadows
Cracker Cop
Cracker Landing
Cut of the Cross
The Devil's Own Dear Son
Dirt McGirtt
Doris Kingsley, Child and Colonist
Down South
Drake's Raid
Elsie in the South
A Fair Maid of Florida
First Discoveries
The First Gentlemen of America
Fish of Souls
The Flames of Time
A Florida Enchantment
Geronimo
Ghost Squad
A Golden Sorrow
The Great Florida Chase
Gullible's Travels
Guns of the Palmetto Plains
Hilton Head
The Hornet's Nest
I'll Be Home for Peacemas
In a Dark Garden
A Jolly Fellowship
The Last Resort
La Vida Vampire
The Land Where the Sun Dies
Last Vampire Standing
Living the Dream
Love and Honors
Love Insurance
Love's Fortress
Mandie and the Seaside Rendezvous
Margaret Tudor
Mary Jane Down South
The Martyrs of La Florida
The Minorcan Quarter
The Minorcan Yoke
The Moving Picture Girls Under the Palms
My Mother Is a Violent Woman
Mystery of the Missing Candlestick
A New Start
Old World, New World
Once to Every Man
One Happy Winter
One Summer in the Old Town
Osceola; Chief of the Seminoles
Osceola's Head
The Other Side of Free
Out of Step
Pablo's Search
Paintbrushes and Arrows
Papa and the Gingerbread Man
Patriot Silver
The Picolata Road
Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Perpetual Youth
Posie
Redfish Oak
The Relic
River in the Wind
River of Hidden Dreams
Romance of a Kentuckian
Rosie, the Oldest Horse in St. Augustine
Sarah Faith Anderson
Savage Heart
Saving Home
Sea of Lentils
Secret Missions
Secret Soldiers
Seminole
Seminole: A Drama of the Florida Indian
The Seminole Trail
Siege!
Silver's Odyssey
Sliding Beneath the Surface
Slingshot
Some Letters from the Alcazar
St. Augustine A to Z
St. Augustine Spirits in Our Midst
Stepping Off a Cliff
Strangers
Sugar Cage
Sweet Dreams St. Augustine
The Sword of Justice
Tales from the Oldest City
Tales of St. Augustine
Texar's Revenge
There Is a Season
There Were Two Pirates
Things That Hang from Trees
Three Vassar Girls at Home
Through Swamp and Glade
Tiny the Florida Easter Bunny
Trail from St. Augustine
A Trip to Florida for Health and Sport
The Triplets Go South
Turkey-Foot
Two Florida Boys and the Red-Haired Pirate
The Two Salomes
Under Siege
Voices in the Fire
The Warrior
When the Land Was Young
The White Flag
White Moccasins
With Osceola in Florida