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Listen: The World ProgramPark ranger Eddie Nesmith at his Fort Gadsden State Historic Site office - Sumatra, Florida.
Image Number
Rights
Collection
Series 236, Box 3, FF6
Personal Subjects
Corporate Subject
Physical Description
General Note
Fort Gadsden State Historic Site in Sumatra was the site of two forts. The first fort was built on Prospect Bluff (15 miles above the Apalachicola River) by the British during the War of 1812 to train runaway slaves and Seminole Indians. When the British evacuated in 1815, the fort and its inhabitants remained. Then known as "Negro Fort" and under the control of over 300 free African Americans, it was viewed as a threat by American slave owners. Under orders from General Andrew Jackson, Lt. Colonel Duncan Clinch destroyed the fort and killed all but 30 of its occupants on 27 July 1816. Then Lt. James Gadsden rebuilt the fort soon afterwards. In the 20th Century, the site was owned by first the Florida Park Service, and then the U.S. Forest Service as part of the Apalachicola National Forest. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Nesmith was the park ranger at Fort Gadsden State Historic Site.
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