Fort Matanzas, near St. Augustine, Florida

by Kim
(Florida)

Fort Matanzas is not as well know at the Castillo de San Marco (the "big fort" in St. Augustine.) It was actually an outpost for the "big fort" located 15 miles south in the middle of the Intercoastal Waterway.

The fort has a visitors center located just off A1A. There, you can watch a short film about the fort. When we were there the gentleman working the gift shop did an AMAZING job of answering all the questions we had. There is a free ferry that takes you from the visitors center to the fort. While you are on the little island, a park ranger and volunteers are available to give brief tour information and answer questions. The boat remains for about 45 minutes while you explore (it's not very big so it doesn't take long) and then takes you back to the visitor's center.

The massacre of French soldiers here in 1565 was the Spain's first move in establishing a colony in Florida. Matanzas comes from the French word for "massacre." Construction on the fort did not actually start until 1740. After the "big fort", Castillo de San Marcos, was completed in 1565, St. Augustine had
only weakness was the Matanzas Inlet, so the Spanish built this outpost to serve as a lookout.

The fort was built of coquina, a local shellstone. Lime for the mortar was made by burning oyster shells.

The fort is relatively small, ususally housing 7 soldiers who rotated out from St. Augustine for a month at a time. In times of crisis, up to 50 men could be assigned here. Summer in Florida can be extremely hot and muggy, but the rooms in the fort were surprisingly cooler than outside.