St. Marks Lighthouse, Florida - Romantic Sentinel on the Gulf

Continuing our look at some of my favorite romantic spots in the South for St. Valentine's Day, one of the most beautiful is the solitary white tower of the St. Marks Lighthouse in St. Marks, Florida.
Located far out in the marshes of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, the St. Marks Lighthouse has guided ships in and out of the port of St. Marks for nearly 180 years. Completed in 1832, the lighthouse has witnessed the changes of ships from sail to steam to modern gas and diesel engines. It has weathered untold hurricanes and even Union attack during the Civil War. And yet it still stands, one of the most beautiful spots on Florida's Gulf Coast.

This is the place that millions of Monarch butterflies gather in the fall for their annual migration across the Gulf of Mexico and the sweeping views of the marshes and the Gulf provide outstanding opportunities for seeing wildlife and birds. It is an amazingly beautiful setting, far removed from the crowded beaches and scenery blocking condos of much of the rest of the Florida coast.

The lighthouse grounds are open to the public daily and there are walking trails, a scenic overlook and displays telling the history of the lighthouse and the significance of the national wildlife refuge. It is a remarkable and often overlooked place.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/stmarkslight.

St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge - St. Marks, Florida

One of the most beautiful sections of Florida's coastline is far removed from the white sand beaches and towering condominiums of the popular resorts of the state. The St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, near St. Marks south of Tallahassee, is a place of vast marshes, wildlife, birds and butterflies.

Open daily, the National Refuge preserves thousands of acres of coastal land that is rich in both cultural and natural history. The St. Marks Lighthouse, located in the heart of the Refuge, dates back to 1832 and a long walking trail leads to the site of the now vanished town of Port Leon, destroyed by hurricane in the 1840s. Union and Confederate troops battle in what is now the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge during the Natural Bridge expedition in 1865, while Spanish explorers led by Panfilo de Narvaez and Hernando de Soto explored the marshes during the 1500s.

The refuge today is a popular place for exploring the outdoors. There are walking trails, picnic areas, boat landings, observation decks, a visitor center, the lighthouse and more. To learn more, please visit www.exploreosuthernhistory.com/stmarksnwr1.

St. Marks Lighthouse - St. Marks, Florida

One of the most beautiful sights on the Florida Gulf Coast is the stunning white tower of the St. Marks Lighthouse rising above the marshes of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge.

Built in 1832 to provide navigational assistance to vessels traveling to and from the ports of St. Marks and Port Leon, the lighthouse has weathered war and hurricanes. It survived a massive hurricane that completely destroyed the town of Port Leon during the 1840s and became a focal point for operations during the Civil War.

Confederate troops darkened the lighthouse in 1861 and soon constructed an artillery battery called Fort Williams near its base. It was realized that the fort was too vulnerable to attack, however, so the guns were removed to St. Marks where Fort Ward was built on top of the ruins of the old Spanish fortress of San Marcos de Apalache.

In March of 1865, the St. Marks Lighthouse was the landing point for a large Union expedition that planned to capture Tallahassee and then push north to Thomasville, Georgia. The campaign was defeated at the Battle of Natural Bridge on March 6, 1865.

Beautifully maintained today, the lighthouse is one of the most popular points of interest at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Thousands of people tour the grounds each year, many coming during annual autumn migration of Monarch butterflies.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/stmarkslight.

Graves of U.S. Soldiers that Florida may close to the public

This photograph shows the Fort St. Marks Military Cemetery at San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park in St. Marks, Florida.

Buried here are soldiers from the 4th and 7th U.S. Infantry Regiments and the 4th U.S. Artillery. They died in the line of duty, primarily from sickness, while garrisoning a fort on this site from 1818 through the early 1820s.

The graves were originally located nearby at a spot that was threatened by development, so the remains were removed and brought here to the state park where they would be preserved and protected.

Now, however, the state of Florida has San Marcos de Apalache on a list of state parks that it may close (temporarily or permanent) because of budget shortfalls.

A closure of the site would, of course, restrict access to and threaten the preservation of the graves of these U.S. soldiers that died here serving their country.

Please email Florida Governor Charlie Crist at Charlie.Crist@MyFlorida.com to urge him to find alternatives that will allow San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park and a number of other Florida State Parks and historic sites to remain open to the public. There are other areas of the budget that can be cut and creative measures that can be taken to save our Southern history.

If you would like to learn more about this highly significant historic site that dates back more than 300 years, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com and look for the San Marcos de Apalache heading at the top of the main page.

The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida

This week marks the 143rd anniversary of the Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida. Fought along the St. Marks River on March 6, 1865, the battle preserved Tallahassee's status as the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi not taken by Union troops during the Civil War. It also was the last significant Confederate victory of the war.

We have a complete section on Natural Bridge available at http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/. Just follow the link to the main page and you will see the special heading there.

In addition to exploring the battlefield itself, the Natural Bridge section includes many photographs of other points of interest associated with the battle, including the beautiful St. Marks Lighthouse, the St. Marks River, the old Spanish fort of San Marcos de Apalache and the Tallahassee-St. Marks "rails to trails" project.

If you are interested in reading in depth about the battle, please consider my book, The Battle of Natural Bridge, Florida, now available through www.barnesandnoble.com, www.amazon.com or for order through most bookstores.

St. Marks Lighthouse, Florida

A focal point of the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Wakulla County, Florida, the St. Marks Lighthouse has overlooked the waters of Apalachee Bay since 1832.

The tower itself is not open to the public, but visitors are welcome to explore the grounds which provide spectacular views of the lighthouse, the Gulf and the adjacent marshes.

At the time the St. Marks Lighthouse was constructed, St. Marks was an important port city. Florida's first chartered and second constructed railroad connected the port with the new capital city of Tallahassee. Mules originally pulled the cars, but eventually were replaced by locomotives. The lighthouse helped ships navigate their way across the bar and into the narrow channel of the lower St. Marks River.

The tower has survived numerous storms, including an 1840s hurricane that completely destroyed the nearby town of Port Leon. It also survived the Civil War. Confederate forces for a time used the lighthouse as an observation post and constructed a battery called Fort Williams on the grounds. The fort was later abandoned then destroyed by Union forces, who also burned the wooden parts of the lighthouse. No trace of the fort remains today, but the tower was repaired after the war and remains a silent sentinel over the Gulf of Mexico to this day.

In addition to its obvious historic and scenic appeal, the lighthouse is also noted for its annual gatherings of Monarch butterflies, which assemble here to begin their migration across the Gulf of Mexico.

For more information on the St. Marks Lighthouse, please visit our page at:

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/stmarkslight.html

Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad State Historic Trail

The Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad State Historic Trail stretches from Tallahassee to St. Marks in the "Big Bend" region of Florida.

The trail is a paved walkway/bikeway that follows the route of the historic Tallahassee-St. Marks Railroad. The railroad was the first to be chartered in Florida and the second to be completed (the oldest was the short-lived line at St. Joseph (today's Port St. Joe). Cars on the line were originally pulled by horses and mules, but locomotives quickly came into use and the railroad remained an important fixture on the landscape of Leon and Wakulla Counties well into the 20th century.

In March of 1865, the railroad proved vital when Union troops landed at the St. Marks Lighthouse and began to march inland. Confederate commanders were able to use the railroad to move troops quickly to to the front and as a result were able to get more men on the ground than the attacking Federals. This advantage played a critical role in the Confederate victory at the Battle of Natural Bridge on March 6, 1864. This victory preserved Tallahassee's status as the only Southern capital east of the Mississippi not taken by Union forces during the war and also saved Thomasville, Georgia from a planned raid.

For more information on the Battle of Natural Bridge and other sites in the area, please visit our Natural Bridge pages at http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/nbindex.html.