Castillo De San Marcos is more than 200 years old making it the oldest fort in the United States. This fort has a fascinating history. It was controlled by Spain, England and the United States, besieged twice - but was never defeated in battle.

SUBSCRIBE for more videos!

Check out these books about the history of St. Augustine and Florida
(Amazon affiliate links may earn me a small commission)

St. Augustine: https://amzn.to/49NbLRH
Hidden History of Florida: https://amzn.to/49JaH1d

#history #americanhistory #documentary

Visit out my website to subscribe to my newsletter, or

Purchase my newest full length documentary
https://eks.tv/

This video is a short documentary about Castillo de San Marcos, in St. Augustine, Florida. The video covers it's entire lifetime - from construction to modern day.

Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the United States. It was initially built in the 1600s to defend St. Augustine, Florida from attack. British pirates and privateers had burned previous wooden forts in the area, so a masonry fort was constructed. The initial phase of construction on this historic fort ended in 1695.

Castillo de San Marcos was built from coquina, a soft limestone made up of broken sea shells. The fort has a square shape with diamond shaped bastions at each corner. This shape allowed defensive fire in all directions. The structure was surrounded by a moat for additional protection.

Shortly after Castillo de San Marcos was built, the English attacked St. Augustine. They laid siege to the fort for 50 days, but were unable to penetrate the coquina walls with their cannon balls.

After this attack several improvements were made to the fort, which included raising the height of the walls.

In 1740 the English attacked Castillo de San Marcos again, and were unsuccessful for a second time. More improvements were made to the fort in 1762.

In 1763 Castillo de San Marcos was handed over to England as part of the treaty that ended the Seven Year's War (known in America as the French and Indian War). The British changed the name of the fort to Fort St. Mark. British control of Florida did not last long, and Spain regained the colony after the United States War for Independence in1784.

In 1824 Spain ceded Florida to the United States. St. Augustine and the Castillo de San Marcos were under Spanish rule for the final time.

The fort was used mostly to house prisoners from the Seminole wars until 1900 when it was taken out of service.

In 1924 Castillo de San Marcos was designated a National Monument.

Visit my website for more videos, and other content!