Fort Pickens is the largest of a group of forts built between 1829-1834 to guard the entrance to Pensacola Bay.
Located at the western-most tip of Santa Rosa Island, the fort consists of over 20 million bricks and is one of my favorite places to explore within the Gulf Island National Seashore.
Though the fort never saw any significant military action, it did house a legendary prisoner. From 1886 to May 1887, the famous Apache Geronimo was imprisoned in Fort Pickens, along with several of his warriors.
The fort is largely still intact, other than a section in the northwest corner of the pentagon-shaped fortification. On June 20, 1899, a fire in Fort Pickens' Bastion D reached the bastion's magazine, which contained 8,000 pounds of powder. The resulting explosion killed one soldier and obliterated Bastion D.
The remaining arches of Fort Pickens have survived for nearly two centuries, withstanding the battering of countless hurricanes.
Several gun batteries were added to the installment through the 1940s, until modern military weapons rendered the fort complex obselete.
It is truly a structure that's built to last, and a less-known part of American military history worth experiencing.