Fort Jefferson

noun

1. a national monument in Dry Tortugas, Fla.: a federal prison 1863–73; now a marine museum.

Example Sentences

But Mr. Marano’s research revealed that it had once held a quarantine hospital and cemetery for those stationed at Fort Jefferson, a Civil War-era military fortress in the Dry Tortugas National Park.

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During the American Civil War, Fort Jefferson was used as a military prison.

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The cemetery, uncovered in a survey underwater that began in August 2022, has been identified by archaeologists as the Fort Jefferson Post Cemetery.

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The only identifiable grave found underwater belongs to one John Greer, who is listed in the records for Fort Jefferson as a civilian laborer who died on Nov. 5, 1861.

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While Fort Jefferson was abandoned by the Army in 1873, the site still served as a coaling station – including for the famous USS Maine, whose sinking in Cuba’s Havana harbor in 1898 sparked the Spanish-American War.

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