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|ownership=[[National Park Service]]
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'''Fort Pickens''' is a pentagonal historic United States military fort on [[Santa Rosa Island]], at the entrance to [[Pensacola Bay]]. It is named after [[Wikipedia:American Revolutionary War|American Revolutionary War]] hero [[Andrew Pickens]]. The fort was completed in [[1834]] and remained in use in some form until [[1947]].
Fort Pickens is currently part of the [[Gulf Islands National Seashore]], and as such, is administered by the [[Wikipedia:National Park Service|National Park Service]]. The '''Fort Pickens Area''' encompasses the western seven miles of Santa Rosa Island, including the fort itself as well as numerous auxiliary batteries.
==ConstructionDesign and construction==The Fortifications Bill of 1828 was signed into law by President John Quincy Adams on [[May 24]] of that year. It allocated $50,000 for the construction of fortifications at Pensacola. A supplemental appropriation the following year allocated another $55,000.<ref name="Bearss">Bearss, Edwin C. [http://palmm.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/uwf%3A3960#page/1/mode/1up ''Historic Structure Report, Fort Pickens''.] U.S. Department of the Interior, 1983.</ref> The land on the western end of Santa Rosa Island on which the proposed fort was to be located was owned by [[Henry Michelet]]. On [[May 28]], [[1828]], the United States purchased 1,181 acres from Michelet for the sum of $4,000. On [[June 4]], [[1829]], a contract with [[Underhill and Strong]] for construction of the fort was approved by Chief Engineer [[Wikipedia:Charles Gratiot|Charles Gratiot]] of the Army Corps of Engineers.<ref name="Bearss" />
[[Image:Fort Pickens map 1861.png|thumb|right|1861 sketch of the fort]]
French engineer [[Wikipedia:Simon Bernard|Simon Bernard]] was appointed to design Fort Pickens. The fort is pentagonal in shape with walls 40 feet high and 12 feet thick.<ref>Kaiser, Harvey H. ''The National Park Architecture Sourcebook.'' Princeton Architectural Press, 2008.</ref> Construction on Fort Pickens lasted from [[1829]] to [[1834]], with 21.5 million bricks being used to build the fort. Much of the construction was done by slave labor.
Fort Pickens was the largest of a group of forts designed to fortify Pensacola's harbor. Fort Pickens supplemented [[Fort Barrancas]], [[Fort McRee]], and the [[Navy Yard]]. Located at the western tip of Santa Rosa Island, just offshore from the mainland, Pickens guarded the island and the entrance to the harbor. Its construction was supervised by Colonel [[William H. Chase]] of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Ironically, during the [[Civil War]] some years later, Chase was later appointed by the State of Florida to command its troops and seize for the South the very fort he had built.
===Battery Van Swearingen===
[[Image:Vanswearingen.jpg|thumb|right|A portion of Battery Van Swearingen]]
'''Battery Van Swearingen''' was activated on [[June 29]], [[1898]]. Two 4.7-inch Armstrong guns were mounted on pedestal carriages. These were replaced with 3-inch rapid fire guns during World War II.<ref name="NPS" /><ref name="Quesada" />
===Batteries Cullum and Sevier===
[[Image:CullumSevier.jpg|thumb|right|Batteries Cullum and Sevier]]
'''Battery Cullum''' and '''Battery Sevier''', completed by [[1898]], housed four 10-inch rifles on disappearing carriages. Although these structures appear to be one large complex, they are two separate structures.<ref name="NPS" />
After World War I, the batteries were declared surplus and two of the guns at Battery Cullum were removed. However, in [[1921]], the War Department reversed that decision and installed two new 10-inch guns at Cullum. Between [[1922]]-[[1923]], a new power station was constructed at Cullum/Sevier. In [[1942]], the 10-inch guns at Batteries Cullum and Sevier were removed. They were replaced in [[1943]] by three-inch rapid fire guns.<ref name="Quesada" />
Due to deterioration, the battery structure has been declared unsafe and is enclosed by a fence to bar access.
===Battery Worth===
[[Image:Batteryworth.jpg|thumb|right|Battery Worth]]
Completed in [[1899]], '''Battery Worth''' housed eight 12-inch mortars in two gun pits. Although the battery lost half its armament in [[1918]] in accordance with the War Department policy to reduce weaponry mounted in the nation's older emplacements, the other four mortars remained active until [[1942]]. The battery became essential for Army-Navy defense activities in the 1940s by housing the Fire Control Switchboard Room, Harbor Entrance Control Post and the Harbor Defense Command Post.<ref name="NPS" />
===Battery #234===
[[Image:Batt234.jpg|thumb|right|Battery #234]]
Plans for '''Battery #234''' were developed in the early 1940s in response to the buildup to World War II. However, by the time Battery #234 was completed in [[1943]], the war's tide turned in favor of the Allies and the battery was never activated.<ref name="NPS" />