Bird Key

Posted: August 22, 2010 
Filed under: Beaches, Landscapes, National Parks/Memorials
Tagged: Birds, People
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Description

Part of  Fort Jefferson National Park in the Dry Tortugas, Bird Key is a sanctuary most of the year for nesting birds.  The island sits next to one of the largest forts constructed by the US government dating back to prior to the Civil War. The fort guards the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico and has housed a few interesting prisoners like Dr Mudd and the Lincoln Assassination Conspirators that weren’t hung like John Wilkes Booth. Six million bricks made in places from New England to the South were used and everything from food to water and other supplies had to be shipped to the island. It was a miserable existence for those stationed or imprisoned there…