Fort Jefferson Virtual Tour

Fort Jefferson lighthouse tower, Dry Tortugas NPS/HDP

Fort Jefferson is located in the Florida Keys. It is now part of Dry Tortugas National Park, which preserves the rich cultural heritage of submerged resources around the nearby keys. The Dry Tortugas were strategically important for their location along the edge of the main shipping channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and Atlantic Ocean. Construction of Fort Jefferson began in 1846 on Garden Key, surrounding a brick lighthouse built in 1825. It was the largest all-masonry fort in the United States and was intended to protect American shipping interests in the Gulf of Mexico. A second lighthouse was constructed beginning in 1857 on Loggerhead Key to aid navigation through the hazardous straits into the Gulf. Ultimately, the fort was never completed, with most work abandoned by 1874. In 1876, a new iron lighthouse was erected atop the fort to replace the original 1825 Garden Key light, which had been damaged by hurricanes.

Project Information

Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) undertook Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation of Fort Jefferson beginning in 2015, with a series of projects to document the Parade Grounds, Garden Key Light, and other features. Field work was undertaken by HDP architects Paul Davidson and Daniel De Sousa, with photography by HDP staff photographers Jarob J. Ortiz and Todd Croteau. Digital content produced by HDP architects Paul Davidson and Ryan Pierce. The projects were sponsored by Dry Tortugas National Park.

Update: As of May 2025, the virtual tour and point cloud viewer are no longer supported on nps.gov. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Animation

Animated video of Fort Jefferson

Animation

Animated video of the Garden Key Lighthouse at Fort Jefferson

HABS Documentation

Archival documentation at the Library of Congress

Virtual Tour

Virtual tour of Fort Jefferson

Point Cloud

Interactive 3D point cloud viewer

Where this belongs

• Dry Tortugas National Park

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