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Manager's Message
Fort Mose Historic State Park is closed for the safety of visitors during
construction of the new Fort Mose Visitor Center. Closure includes the parking
lot, boardwalk, and picnic pavilion. The park is slated to open again in 2007.
Please call 904-461-2033 for more information. Thank you.
When the park is open, the boardwalk provides a fantastic view into a tidal salt
marsh and ends at a benched platform with expansive views of the original Fort
Mose sites, a bird rookery, and miles of salt marsh.
As the first free African American settlement in what is now the United States,
Fort Mose represents a story of courage, determination, and perseverance. The
stories of Africans fleeing to freedom and of Native American Indians who aided
them, as well as tales of the many other people touched by Fort Mose will
inspire everyone who visits the new center.
- Paul Crawford, Park Manager
Welcome to Fort Mose
The power politics of 18th century England and Spain reached across the Atlantic
to the Florida frontier. In 1738, the Spanish governor of Florida chartered Fort
Mose as a settlement for freed Africans who had fled slavery in the British
Carolinas. When Spain ceded Florida to Britain in 1763, the inhabitants of Fort
Mose migrated to Cuba. Although nothing remains of the fort, the site was listed
on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 for its importance in
American history. Visitors may view the site from a boardwalk and stop for a
picnic in a covered pavilion. Located approximately two miles north of the
Castillo de San Marcos near the St. Augustine City gates on U.S. 1. Turn east
off U.S. 1 onto Saratoga Boulevard and follow the signs to the site.
Contact the Florida Park Service Information Center for general inquiries.
For Information about Fort Mose, please call (904) 461-2033.
Hours of Operation
Florida state parks are open from 8 a.m. until sundown 365 days a year.
Driving Directions
From St. Augustine: From downtown St. Augustine, drive north on A1A. At the
carousel (you read it correctly), continue straight north on San Marco. (A1A
turns right towards Vilano Beach. Don't go that way.) San Marco merges with Hwy
1. Shortly after the merge, look for a bronze statue on the right and a sign for
Fort Mose. Turn right on Saratoga. Saratoga dead ends into Fort Mose picnic area
and parking lot. OR: From Hwy 1 in St. Augustine, drive north past Hwy 16. Look
for a bronze statue on the right and a sign for Fort Mose. Turn right on
Saratoga. Saratoga dead ends into Fort Mose picnic area and parking lot. From
Jacksonville: Drive south on Hwy 1. Turn left on Saratoga. (If you pass Hwy 16
you've missed Saratoga.) Saratoga dead ends into Fort Mose picnic area and
parking lot.
Park Fees
There are currently no fees associated with this park.
Fort Mose
c/o Anastasia State Park 1340A A1A S. St. Augustine, FL 32080
, Florida 32080
Phone: (904) 461-2033
Fax: |
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