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General Note

Fort Clinch is located on the north end of Amelia Island, near Florida's east coast border with Georgia. The fort was named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, an important figure in Florida's Seminole War of the 1830s.

Construction of the fort was begun in 1847 but never completed. It was a safe haven for blockade runners during the Civil War and was briefly occupied by Confederate forces. Captured by Federal troops in 1862, it gave the Union control of the adjacent Georgia and Florida coasts.

In 1935, the state of Florida purchased 256 acres which included the abandoned fort. It was the beginning of a program to acquire adjacent lands and begin development of one of the first and finest state parks in Florida. The civilian Conservation Corps was responsible for the initial building and development of the park. It was formally opened to the public in 1938.

Biographical Note

The photographer George Washington Strickland was born on July 1, 1904. He married Louise Warren on December 12, 1931.