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Florida Friday; Fort Matanzas National Monument

Back in 2013 I visited by Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine and later Fort Matanzas National Monument.






Fort Matanzas was a Spanish Fortification built from 1740 to 1742 on the Mantanzas River in what is now St. Johns County.  The instigation for the construction of Fort Matanzas was a British Siege of St. Augustine along the Matanzas River.  Fort Matanzas was constructed from Shellstone and was only used once in combat to ward off a British invasion attempt in 1742 as it was nearing completion.  Fort Matanzas was abandoned as Florida shifted hands between the Spanish, British, and Americans.  Fort Matanzas was restored by the U.S. Department of War before being transferred to the National Park Service in 1933.

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