![]() | Troops lived in the second tier gun galleries Since cannons were never fully deployed at Fort Jefferson, enlisted men lived in the relatively cool second tier gun bays. This second tier was left incomplete when it was realized that the weight of the structure was causing it to sink.Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas National Park , Florida Date photographed: March 21, 2015See location in Google Maps | |
![]() | Gun gallery at Fort Jefferson Each side of the fort had a long gallery with gunrooms along one side, 420 cannons total including the top tier. Guns remained in these lower galleries until sold for scrap and removed in 1900. The embrasures (windows) would originally have been covered by iron doors known as Totten shutters, blown open by the blast of the gun.Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida Date photographed: March 21, 2015See location in Google Maps | |
![]() | Brickwork at Fort Jefferson The marvelous brickwork of the gunrooms was built over a temporary wooden frame. Notice the thickness of the walls around the embrasure - the slot the cannon was fired through.Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas National Park , Florida Date photographed: March 21, 2015See location in Google Maps | |
![]() | Shot furnace at Fort Jefferson This unusual structure was a furnace used to heat cannonballs red hot - to set wooden ships on fire. This was the pinnacle of military technology in the 1860's.Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas National Park , Florida Date photographed: March 21, 2015See location in Google Maps | |
![]() | Main powder magazine in the inner courtyard Gunpowder was dispersed among 37 different magazines distributed around the fort. This main magazine in the courtyard is covered by a massive brick vault that supported a thick concrete roof.Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida Date photographed: March 21, 2015See location in Google Maps | |
![]() | Foundations of living quarters Officers quarters and enlisted mens' barracks stood in the central courtyard, but most have long since burned down.Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas National Park , Florida Date photographed: March 21, 2015See location in Google Maps | |
![]() | Center of the fort Though a pleasant grassy open space now, at one time the central enclosure would have been crowded with buildings and tents, livestock and building materials.Fort Jefferson on Garden Key, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida Date photographed: March 21, 2015See location in Google Maps | |
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