Old Fort Pierce Park is the site of Fort Pierce, a military installation constructed by the U.S. Army in Florida with the purpose of being a main supply depot for the army during the Second Seminole War. The modern town of Fort Pierce derives its name from this installation.
Fort Pierce, named for its first commander Benjamin Pierce, was built in 1838 and abandoned in 1842 at the end of the Second Seminole War, burning down the following year.
Today, the site is a park along the Indian River. The park is also the site of an ancient burial mound of the Ais Indians.
Famous quotes containing the words fort, pierce and/or park:
“So here they are, the dog-faced soldiers, the regulars, the fifty-cents-a-day professionals riding the outposts of the nation, from Fort Reno to Fort Apache, from Sheridan to Stark. They were all the same. Men in dirty-shirt blue and only a cold page in the history books to mark their passing. But wherever they rode and whatever they fought for, that place became the United States.”
—Frank S. Nugent (1908–1965)
“Who will go drive with Fergus now,
And pierce the deep wood’s woven shade,
And dance upon the level shore?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Therefore awake! make haste, I say,
And let us, without staying,
All in our gowns of green so gay
Into the Park a-maying!”
—Unknown. Sister, Awake! (L. 9–12)