National Parks: Dry Tortugas

This post is part of a series covering Florida's national parks, inspired by the film National Parks Adventure currently showing on the MOSI IMAX Dome Theater.

Visitors to Key West have no doubt seen the iconic mile marker 0 for U.S. Highway 1, with the nearby point marked as the southernmost point in the continental U.S. It's at the end of a long stretch of highway that reaches up to Maine, down the entire east coast, throughout the Florida Keys via the Overseas Highway, and right up to the shoreline. It would seem you've reached the end of the line as you stand there. But to get to Dry Tortugas National Park, you'll have to go a bit further.

About 70 miles further, in fact - and you can't take a car. About 60,000 visitors a year reach Dry Tortugas National Park by ferry or seaplane, spending just a few hours on this small spit of land that's closer to Cuba than to Miami, with no cafes, bars, or t-shirt shops. Instead, there's a well-aged enormous masonry fort surrounded by crystal clear waters teeming with tropical fish. Nearby islands house enormous seabird colonies, where tropical birds like brown noddys and sooty terns draw birders from near and far. With never more than a couple hundred visitors at a time, it's a tranquil experience treasured by nature buffs and history lovers.

Photo courtesy National Parks Service

What's In a Name? The name of these islands dates back to the early Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon, who visited with his crew in June of 1523. They captured over a hundred sea turtles there for food, naming the islands Las Tortugas, the Spanish word for turtle. Later explorers adding the word "Dry" to the title, indicating the lack of a natural freshwater source anywhere in the archipelago, which encompasses seven major islands.

Lighthouse, Fort, and Prison
This lack of drinking water kept any type of human development at bay until 1825, when a small lighthouse was constructed there. In 1829, the U.S. Navy decided the site was too strategically important to remain undeveloped, and construction on Fort Jefferson began in 1842, after 17 years of studies and delays. It was to be built entirely of brick, a six-sided hexagon with open parade grounds inside. An innovative series of water cisterns was incorporated to store filtered drinking water gathered from rain; unfortunately, a design flaw meant the system allowed seawater to infiltrate and so was never used.

Fort Jefferson was intended to be a massive gun platform, but it never saw active battle. Instead, it was used mainly as a military prison. Visitors today might laugh at the idea of this tropical paradise being used as a prison, but in the days before air conditioning and mosquito control, the Dry Tortugas weren't a pleasant place to spend an extended period of time. Summer storms, humidity, insect infestations, and disease plagued the prison, including a yellow fever outbreak in 1867.

Dr. Mudd's cell with a sign inscribed by another prisoner

It was during this outbreak that Dr. Samuel Mudd, arguably the most famous prisoner of Fort Jefferson, was said to have redeemed himself. Mudd was convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, having set the broken leg of assassin John Wilkes Booth and housed him overnight. He and three comrades were imprisoned here in miserable conditions in 1865 after trial. When the yellow fever outbreak struck, Dr. Mudd worked tirelessly to save lives and stop the spread of fever. These actions led to the pardon of Mudd by President Johnson in 1869.

Birds, Fish, and History
In 1888, the fort was deactivated, and was designated a national monument by President Roosevelt in 1935. In 1992, its status was upped to Dry Tortugas National Park and expanded to include 143 acres of islands and surrounding reefs and waters. Having seen little development, this area remains pristine today in many ways. The reefs abound with tropical fish and several species of sea turtles, while the only U.S. breeding colonies of tropical birds like noddys and boobys thrive on islands nearby. Birders seek out the area during spring songbird migration, when up to 100 species can be spotted in a single day. Snorkelers and divers enjoy the reefs and nearby shipwrecks. History buffs can explore the fort, which is also the largest masonry structure in the Americas. Learn more about visiting Dry Tortugas National Park here.