"The park's centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, a massive but unfinished coastal fortress. Fort Jefferson is the largest brick masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere,[5][6] and is composed of more than 16 million bricks. Among United States forts it is exceeded in size only by Fort Monroe, Virginia, and Fort Adams, Rhode Island. Dry Tortugas is unique in its combination of a largely undisturbed tropical ecosystem with significant historic artifacts. The park is accessible only by seaplane or boat and has averaged about 63,000 visitors annually in the period from 2008 to 2017."

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The moat surrounding the fort was open to the sea and was designed as a sewer for the fort. This design had been used successfully in northern locations. There is a breach in the moat wall at one point, the design was for daily tidal water to flow through cleaning out any wast. In area with strong tides the system worked with the weaker tide in this area the moat usually was filled with the accumulated waste, human and animal, generated by the fort.

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All construction materials used in the fort were shipped in on sailing vessels, some materials coming from as far north as Maine.

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The iron lighthouse was recently deconstructed, restored and re-installed.

Tags:   Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas Florida Keys National Park Gulf of Mexico historic site

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The fort was held by the Union during the Civil War.

Tags:   Fort Jefferson Dry Tortugas Florida Keys National Park Gulf of Mexico historic site

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