Last updated: June 1, 2021
Place
Rugged Casemates
Quick Facts
Location:
Fort Pickens, Florida
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
You are standing in one of the fort's 21 gun chambers known as casemates. Thirteen casemates on this level housed 10-inch Rodman cannon in the 1860s, but they were never fired in combat. Notice the arched ceiling, which was designed to transfer the massive weight of the brick and cannon above to the vertical piers and to withstand the shock waves from cannon when fired. Between firings the gun crew could close the embrasure-the opening in the wall-with iron shutters to protect themselves from enemy fire.