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January 09, 2006
Fort Zachary Taylor
Tidal Flush Latrines: There were 2 10 seat latrines that were designed so that the outgoing tide would "flush" them. However, the tidal flow was insufficient and left the latrines better in theory than in practice. Unfortunately, they did serve as a breeding ground for the mosquito that carried Yellow Fever. In 1863, the commander of the fort wrote to Washington that the fort was a "place of pestilence, disease, and death." He was losing approximately 15 men a day to yellow fever.
Note the partially excavated cannons, which were used to reinforce the concrete during the building of the batteries. There were also thousands of pounds of artillery shells and gun powder inside these batteries, which the engineers thought the old cannon would help protect from a direct hit.
The fort was built a quarter mile out to sea on a hard rock shoal in water 10 feet deep. Why it is no longer "out to sea" has to do with the dredging of the boat channel by the Navy, resulting in deposits of fill that created the park and landlocked the fort. The Florida Park Service then decided to dig the moat that surrounds the fort to give viewers a sense of how the fort once looked.
"Standing Guard" from the back...
and the front.
Find the VW!!
Posted by Heather at January 9, 2006 09:20 AM
Comments
Beautiful, I wish I was there, so many great photo opportunities.
Posted by: Nicole at January 10, 2006 10:28 AM