Castillo De San Marcos

St. Augustine, Florida is home to the oldest masonry fort in the United States. The Castillo de San Marcos was built in 1672 by Spain and replaced nine wooden forts positioned in various locations. The Spanish Crown recognized the need for a more permanent fortification after an attack by Sir Francis Drake in 1565 and the English pirate Robert Searle in 1668. The Castillo de San Marcos is a masonry star fort made up primarily of coquina stone. Coquina means "little shells" and is made up of ancient shells bonded together to form a material similar to limestone.
The Castillo de San Marcos was put under siege by the British twice but never fell to the British by force. However, due to the Treaty of Paris (1763) following the Seven Years War, Spain abandoned all of Spanish Florida to Britain in exchange for Manila and Havana. Thus from 1763 through 1784 Britain occupied St. Augustine. During the British occupation, the Castillo de San Marcos was renamed Fort St. Mark. Following the second Treaty of Paris (1783), St. Augustine and Florida was returned to Spain, and the fort was renamed back to the Castillo de San Marcos. Spain was losing control of many of it colonial possessions, and in 1819, Florida was ceded to the United States. When Florida became a U.S. territory in 1821 the Castillo de San Marcos became Fort Marion, named after Francis Marion, a revolutionary war hero. Throughout the 19th century, Fort Marion was utilized as a prison for Native Americans (including Chief Osceola during the Seminole Wars, Chief White Horse of the Kiowa and many of Geronimo's Apache band) and served as a battery in the US coastal defense system. It was held by the Confederacy throughout the Civil War when it was surrendered in 1861 (it was mostly abandoned by the Union just prior). In 1900, after 205 years of military use under five different flags, the Castillo de San Marcos was taken off of active duty. In 1924, Fort Marion became a National Monument and transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service in 1933. It was not until 1942 that the Congress renamed the building Castillo de San Marcos in honor of its Spanish history.