Sunday September 4th 2016

This afternoon I visited Fort Clinch State Park on the north end of Amelia Island. It’s about 25 miles north and east of here in an area of Amelia Island that’s more to my liking than the area I was in a couple of weeks ago.

Fort Clinch

The main attraction of the state park is Fort Clinch. It was built starting in 1847 as part of the country’s coastal defenses. The fort is located at the mouth of the St. Mary’s River to protect the deep water port of Fernandina. The port was the eastern end of the railroad going west across the northern part of the state.

Looking through the Sally Port into the courtyard. The period flag is at the center.

View of the fort from high on the rampart.

During the Civil War it was occupied by the south but was soon abandon for strategic reasons to be re-occupied by federal troops. After the Civil War the Fort was put into caretaker status until the Spanish American war. During that brief war, it was again occupied. It became a state park in 1935 but was used by the military again during the Second World War as a base for coastal surveillance activities.

Guns mounted to defend the mouth of the St Mary’s river.

Another view of the interior of the fort.

The facility has been well restored and maintained. You can tour many of the buildings with artifacts from the period on display. Ramps and stairs are available to climb to the top of the walls. Standing beside the cannon aimed at the sea approaches provides a sense of the coverage the fort had. You can walk through galleries in the walls to get a sense of the thickness of the fortifications. In general, it is a very impressive structure that never saw any real action or was every actually completed.

Tidal area in front of the Fort

If I’d planned better, I would have gone to the park yesterday or earlier today. On select weekends throughout the year re-enactments are conducted by volunteers. The first weekend of every month is a re-enactment of Federal Civil War era troops garrisoning the fort. At other times soldiers from different eras and the confederacy are re-enacted.

The weather in the area of Fort Clinch state park was great for a visit today. The sun was out through scattered clouds. A good breeze off the ocean kept the temperature down. Here at the RV park the weather was not as good. It was right on the line between the good weather and a rainy area. Sometimes it would be sunny and sometimes it would cloud over quickly and rain for a minute or two. Tomorrow the line between good and bad is forecast to move further south.