Dry Tortugas National Park

Dry Tortugas is by far one of the most unusual National Parks. It's one of the smallest being a chain of seven islands. It's the most remote and least visited even though it has one of the most notorious pasts. Ponce de Leon caught 160 sea turtles in 1513 and named this place Dry Tortugas (turtles). Later Jefferson had a Fort now called Ft. Jefferson built to protect the southern coastline of the U.S. Even after thirty years of building, this fortress was never really completed. It had flaws in it's foundation and was never used for it's intended purpose. This mass of protection could easily be destroyed by the rifled cannon which was newly invented soon after the fort being built. Although Dry Tortugas failed Jefferson, this secretive place has been used throughout history. The pirates often used the island as a base for taking ships. The fort was used as a prison for deserters and criminals in the Civil War. It was used by the Navy in the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1888-1900 this facility was a quarantine station and pilots in WWII made this a seaplane base.