Dry Tortugas National Park preserves Fort Jefferson and the Dry Tortugas islands of the Florida Keys. The park covers 101 mi² (262 km²), mostly water, about 68 statute miles (109 km) west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico.

It is famous for abundant sea life, colorful coral reefs and legends of shipwrecks and sunken treasures. The park's centerpiece is Fort Jefferson, a massive but unfinished coastal fortress. It is the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere, and is composed of over 16 million bricks. The fort was eventually converted into a prison for Union Army deserters as well as Dr. Samuel Mudd and other accomplices implicated in President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The U.S. Army abandoned the fortress in 1874 and a nearby sooty tern rookery was a favored hunting ground for egg collectors until the area was established as a wildlife refuge in 1908.

On January 4, 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt designated the area as Fort Jefferson National Monument. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 10, 1970. On October 26, 1992 the Dry Tortugas, including Fort Jefferson, was established as a national park. The islands do not exhibit any standing fresh water or even seasonal streams, hence the "dry" name. Owing to the potential difficulties of survival in such conditions, one of these islands was used as the location for filming a military survival film used to train aircraft personnel.

The park is roughly 70 statute miles (60 nautical miles) or 110 kilometers by boat west of Key West, and plays host to almost 80,000 visitors each year. The park is accessible only by seaplane or boat. Activities include snorkeling, picnicking, scuba diving, saltwater fishing and birdwatching.

The most popular bird watching event is the sooty tern nesting season on Bush Key between February and September, which involvess an estimated 100,000 terns. Bush Key remains closed to visitors during the nesting season, but bird watchers with binoculars or telephoto lenses can watch the spectacle from Fort Jefferson. Other bird species in the park include the noddy, brown pelican, magnificent frigatebird, masked booby, roseate tern, brown booby and double-crested cormorant.

External links

• Dry Tortugas National Park
• Photos of Dry Tortugas National Park

1935 establishments | Florida | Florida Keys | Landmarks in Florida | Monroe County, Florida | National Parks of the United States | Registered Historic Places in Florida | American Civil War prison camps

Dry-Tortugas-Nationalpark | Dry Tortugas National Park | Park Narodowy Dry Tortugas