Florida Memory is administered by the Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services, Bureau of Archives and Records Management. The digitized records on Florida Memory come from the collections of the State Archives of Florida and the special collections of the State Library of Florida.
State Archives of Florida
- ArchivesFlorida.com
- State Archives Online Catalog
- ArchivesFlorida.com
- ArchivesFlorida.com
State Library of Florida
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Listen: The Assorted Selections ProgramView of earth works at Fort Gadsden.
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General Note
Fort Gadsden State Historic Site in Sumatra was the site of two forts. The first fort was built on Prospect Bluff (15 miles above the Apalachicola River) by the British during the War of 1812 to train runaway slaves and Seminole Indians. When the British evacuated in 1815, the fort and its inhabitants remained. Then known as "Negro Fort" and under the control of over 300 free African Americans, it was viewed as a threat by American slave owners. Under orders from General Andrew Jackson, Lt. Colonel Duncan Clinch destroyed the fort and killed all but 30 of its occupants on 27 July 1816. Then Lt. James Gadsden rebuilt the fort soon afterwards. In the 20th Century, the site was owned by first the Florida Park Service, and then the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Apalachicola National Forest. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
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