Egmont Key

I have some pictures I want to post here in my blog. I think they relate to the topic at hand, Earth Art, but I'll let you judge for yourself. These photos are a couple years old - I took them while on vacation in Florida. Specifically, on an outing to Fort DeSoto Park, located in Pinellas County. I went snorkeling with my brother and sister, and we took a ferry out to Egmont Key (which is only a 10 minute boat ride from the park). We were able to spend some time exploring the island (which is where I took most of the photos) and after we snorkeled in the Gulf.

Now, a little bit of history on Egmont Key (because this will help you understand what the pictures contain). The ruins shown in these photos are of Fort Dade, built in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American war. It remained active until 1923, but now is virtually a ghost town. But even before Fort Dade was built, the island served the Spanish Conquistadors and during the Civil War it was captured by Union forces, who then established a base to house their gunboats (which were blockading Tampa Bay). The key holds a great wealth of history. It was so exciting to actually see everything up close!

This is a long-distance shot of the key. Note the lighthouse in the distance. I have a larger photo of it up close. It was built in 1848, but suffered severe damages in that same year (and in 1852) by a hurricane. A new lighthouse was completed in 1858, and went back into service.

Here is a closer shot of the lighthouse. It's actually said to be the oldest structure (of any sort) in the entire Tampa Bay area. The Confederate soldiers, who had occupied the island previously, are said to have taken the fresnel lens from the lighthouse to deprive its use to the Union Navy as a beacon. The lens was recovered at the end of the war and the lighthouse went into operation again in 1866.

The next few shots I plan to show are of Fort Dade. It was built to protect Tampa Bay from an attack by the Spanish. During the First World War, the fort served as a training center. It's no longer in use, and it's interesting to see how the structures have faired since. A lot of the damage done has primarily been from hurricanes.

This is a shot of the cable tank and mine storehouse. I'm surprised many of the walls to these buildings are still standing, what with all the weather damage they must suffer during hurricane season every year. You can see a bit of the wall has fallen way from the top. Still in fair condition, though. This is a close up of one of the side windows in the storehouse. Don't mind my brother, he's just being goofy. The pattern of the stones are really remarkable. I love how this structure seems to have become almost a part of the landscape. It's stood there for so long.

Some of this fort must have been built right into the earth itself. It's amazing to go into some of those rooms (like the one straight ahead in this picture). The temperature is cooler, but it's dark. I can't imagine what it was like back in the early 1900's, having to live here. You can see the stone has suffered some damage (it looks very weathered). But again, I'm surprised these structures are in such good shape.

Those stairs blend in so well with the sand! I can hardly tell they are made of stone. I really love this shot, personally. I don't know if I have any specific reason, I guess it's because everything here seems to blend so well together, it hardly looks like a separate structure.

Now, I can't remember if the guide said this was part of Fort Dade, or if this was here earlier. I want to say it was built earlier, maybe around the time of the Conquistadors? Anyway, we went snorkeling here, at the ruins of a fort that is now underwater. I don't believe it was underwater at the time it was built. Shows how Mother Nature has proven her influence. There are lots of stones here, making the water shallow at different parts around the fort. You need to be careful of where they are when snorkeling.

I hope those were enjoyable to view. I sure had fun taking them! Leave comments if you like.