Fort DeSoto Park
| Fort De Soto Park | |
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IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape)
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Sunset at North Beach in Fort De Soto Park
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| Location | Pinellas County, Florida, USA |
| Nearest city | St. Petersburg |
| Coordinates | 27°36′56″N 82°44′09″W / 27.615499°N 82.735902°WCoordinates: 27°36′56″N 82°44′09″W / 27.615499°N 82.735902°W |
| Established | December 21, 1962 |
| Governing body | Pinellas County |
South-southwest of St. Petersburg, Florida, Fort De Soto Park is a park operated by Pinellas County on five offshore keys, or islands: Madelaine Key, St. Jean Key, St. Christopher Key, Bonne Fortune Key and the main island, Mullet Key. The keys are connected by either bridge or causeway. The island group is accessible by toll road from the mainland. Historically, the islands were used for military fortifications; remnants and a museum exhibit this history. Two piers, beaches, picnic area, hiking trails, bicycling trails, kayak trail, and a ferry to Egmont Key State Park are available.
The park is a 'gateway site' for the Great Florida Birding Trail.
In 1849, Brevet Col. Robert E. Lee (the famous American Civil War commander) and three other US Army Engineers surveyed the area and recommended Mullet and Egmont Keys become fortified. Both keys could only be reached by boat, since they were islands off the mainland. Union troops were stationed on the two keys during the Civil War (1861–1865) to aid in the Union blockade of Tampa Bay. The keys were again abandoned by the military until 1882 when military reservations were officially created on the two keys. However, it would be several years before actual permanent construction would commence as a result of defense considerations linked to the Spanish–American War.
Hillsborough County established a quarantine station on the eastern side of Mullet Key in 1889. It became known as Mullet Key Quarantine Station. The Marine Hospital Service took over jurisdiction of the station in 1901. The duty of the station was to inspect aliens aboard ships arriving from foreign ports. By 1925 the station operated with fifteen buildings. The quarantine station operated until 1937, when the Public Health Service transferred its operations there to Gadsden Point, near Tampa.
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Wikipedia