Fort Zachary Taylor State Park

Earlier today, I visited yet another former military outpost, Fort Zachary Taylor, which is now a state park.  The park is at the western end of Key West, and includes not only the fort, but also some nearby beaches.  The trail from where I parked to the fort starts with this cannon, which you shouldn't sit on.

The trail leads past this sign.

After I entered the fort, I was in an area between its walls to the left and barracks to the right.  As you sometimes should expect, there was a tour group in the area.  The walls on the left supported a gun emplacement called Battery Osceola, named after a Seminole chief against whom General Zachary Taylor fought.

Here's more of the inner walls, which supported a gun emplacement called Battery Adair.  This battery is named after 1st Lieutenant Lewis D. Adair, who died of wound while fighting Sioux Indians in what was then Dakota Territory.

I climbed up the steps to where Battery Osceola used to be.  The curved metal rails accommodated wheels on the guns, which allowed them to pivot and thus fire in different directions.

Another section of the fort's walls was made of brick and mortar.  Each niche houses a cannon.

From the roof area formerly occupied by Battery Osceola, I could see part of the beach, and some small keys in the Gulf of Mexico.

Back on ground level, I took a shot of one of the cannons in the brick wall.

Here's part of the barracks.

The brick wall also had an accessible part of its roof, as seen here.

This roof area includes what appears to be a large gun turret support.

Once again back on the ground, I found the dining hall, which is within the barracks.

After exploring the fort, I took a walk over to the beach area.  On the way, I took his shot of the outer wall and the adjacent moat, which is by far the poorest-focused picture I've taken during my entire trip.

Unlike at Fort Jefferson, the moat here does not entirely surround Fort Taylor.  For more information, besides at the above links, go to U.S. News & World Report, American Battlefield Trust, Florida Rambler and Destination Daydreamer.