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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==
[[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. 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.
A number of weapons emplacements were constructed in and around Fort Pickens throughout the years.
===Battery Pensacola===
'''Battery Pensacola''' was constructed in [[1898]] on a portion of the seven-acre parade ground within Fort Pickens. At the battery were mounted two 12-inch rifles on disappearing carriages capable of firing 1,070 lb. shells approximately 8 miles.<ref name="NPS">[http://www.nps.gov/archive/guis/extended/FLA/History/Battery.htm National Park Service - Gulf Islands National Seashore]</ref> The battery was declared surplus in [[1933]] and its guns were removed in [[1934]].<ref name="Quesada">de Quesada, Alejandro M. ''A History of Florida Forts: Florida's Lonely Outposts.'' The History Press, 2006.</ref>
===Battery Van Swearingen===
