Fort Jefferson Dungeon

The brick doorway leads to a room where famous prisoners were once kept.

Quick Facts

Location:

Fort Jefferson

Amenities

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Accessible Sites

“Those who enter here leave hope behind.”

This line from Dante’s Lost Paradise was inscribed on the door above the dungeon. There are reports new prisoners were threatened with a dark and gloomy dungeon as punishment for misconduct. Due to the geology of Dry Tortugas, Fort Jefferson has no underground dungeons. However, this lower level room in Bastion D served as a dungeon for prisoners being punished. Dr. Samuel Mudd was quartered in the bastion “D” cell after attempting to escape on a supply boat. Englishman and confederate soldier of fortune George St. Leger Grenfel had no regard for regulations or authority and was sentenced to the Dungeon on many accounts. Grenfel was described as “a ferocious looking man, six feet tall with a muscular figure and the appearance of a bandit.”