Fort Matanzas
The National Park Service operates a National
Monument at Fort Matanzas. The fort is located on Rattlesnake
Island just upstream from the Matanzas River Inlet at the south end
of Anastasia Island. The entrance to the park is clearly
marked on SR A1A, just north of the bridge over the river.
There is no charge, either to get into the park or to ride the
passenger ferry over to the fort. It is a short boat ride and
you spend about twenty minutes at the fort. You can explore
the entire fort.
After the boat ride, we walked the 1/2 mile or so
nature trail around the facility. We then made the short drive
south where the Park Service has a small facility where you can walk
over the dunes and along the shore of the Matanzas River.
According to the brochure we picked up at the Park,
"the massacre of French soldiers here in 1565 was Spain's
opening move in establishing a colony in Florida. The
construction of Fort Matanzas in 1740-42 was Spain's last effort to
ward off British encroachments on St. Augustine."
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