Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park

Sited to protect the strategic harbor at Key West, construction of Fort Zachary Taylor began in 1845 some 1,200 feet offshore from the city. After Florida seceded from the Union in January 1861, U.S. Army Captain James Brannan moved his ...

West Martello Tower - Key West

In 1862, the Union military began construction on two fortifications, known as the East and West Martello Towers. Located on the south shore of Key West to provide defensive support to Fort Zachary Taylor, the West Martello Tower was built ...

East Martello Tower - Key West

In 1862, the Union military began construction on two fortifications, known as the East and West Martello Towers. Located on the south shore of Key West to provide defensive support to Fort Zachary Taylor, the East Martello Tower is two ...

Union Monument-Miami

Located in Woodlawn Park Cemetery, this sculptured monument of a Union soldier, which is very unusual for a Southern cemetery, was dedicated by the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a Union veterans organization, in 1939.

It is believed to ...

City of Miami Cemetery

Founded in 1897, Miami's oldest cemetery contains the remains of at least 66 Confederate veterans and 27 Union veterans. A Confederate monument erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and surrounded by Confederate graves is located in a traffic ...

Cape Florida Lighthouse

To protect shipping in the hazardous Straits of Florida, Congress authorized the construction of the Cape Florida Lighthouse in 1822. The first lighting occurred on December 17, 1825. In July 1836, an Indian attack in the early months of the ...

Gamble Plantation

Major Robert Gamble began a 3,500-acre sugar plantation on this site in 1844, and constructed the Gamble Mansion and a sugar mill of brick and tabby between 1845 and 1856. The Gamble family sold the plantation in 1858, and in ...

Manatee County Historical Records Library

Located in the restored 1918 Carnegie Library building, the library contains governmental records dating back to 1855.

County historical records, some of the Civil War era, are available to researchers, including deed books, marriage licenses, probate files, court records, County Commission ...

Manatee Burying Ground Cemetery

This cemetery contains the remains of at least ten Confederate veterans and officials including three delegates to the Florida Secession Convention - Ezekiel Glazier, James G. Cooper, and Dr. John C. Pelot, as well as at least three Union veterans ...

First Manatee County Courthouse

Constructed in 1860, this small wood framed building is believed to be the oldest remaining county courthouse built for that purpose in Florida. During the Civil War, the courthouse served as the political and judicial center of Manatee County which ...