Fort De Soto Park is a county park located south-southwest of St. Petersburg, Florida, operated by Pinellas County. The park consists of five offshore keys, or islands: Madelaine Key, St. Jean Key, St. Christopher Key, Bonne Fortune Key and the main island, Mullet Key. The keys are connected by either bridge or causeway. The island group is accessible by toll road from the mainland. Historically, the islands were used for military fortifications; remnants and a museum exhibit this history. Two piers, beaches, picnic area, hiking trails, bicycling trails, kayak trail, and a ferry to Egmont Key State Park are available.
The park is a gateway site for the Great Florida Birding Trail.
History
Early history The area of today's Fort De Soto was originally inhabited by the Tocobaga Native Americans from about 1000 to 1500 ACE. They lived on Mullet Key and other barrier islands in the area, eating fish, clams, conch, oysters and whelks from the Gulf of Mexico. Their diet was supplemented by occasional game food as well as the plants they gathered.Staff (ndg) "Fort De Soto County Park: Historic Guide" Pinellas County Parks & Recreation / Friends of Fort De Soto
In 1529, the Spanish explorer Pánfilo de Narváez investigated the barrier islands after his expedition landed between St. Pete Beach and Clearwater, Florida. Ten years later, Hernando De Soto came ashore somewhere near the southern part of Tampa Bay, beginning what would culminate in the conquest of Florida for the Spanish Empire.
Military use In 1849, a detachment of US Army engineers, including future Confederate General Robert E. Lee surveyed the area. They recommended that Egmont Key be fortified, and that other islands in the area be reserved for possible military use. Mullet Key was accordingly declared a military reservation later that year. There was no attempt to fortify the two islands before the start of the American Civil War.
Confederate forces briefly occupied Egmont and Mullet keys early in the Civil War, but soon withdrew to Tampa, after removing equipment from the Egmont Key Lighthouse. The Union Army occupied the two islands by mid-July 1861. The close proximity of the islands to the main channel into Tampa Bay aided in the Union naval blockade of Tampa Bay. Egmont Key Light was not lit during the war due to the Confederate removal of essential equipment, but the lighthouse served as an observation tower for the blockade. The United States Navy established a refugee camp on Egmont Key for Union sympathizers from west central Florida. A Union raid on Tampa in May 1864 searched for the equipment taken from the lighthouse, but could not find all of it.
Following the Civil War, the Board of Engineers for Fortifications recommended that the military reservation of Mullet Key be continued. The island was surveyed in 1876, and the military reservations of Egmont and Mullet keys were made permanent by executive proclamation in 1882. In 1885, interests in St. Petersburg proposed that the Orange Belt Railway be extended to a terminal on Mullet Key serving ocean-going passenger ships. A request to sell Mullet Key, or to grant the railroad a right-of-way, was rejected by Secretary of War William Endicott because of the military reservation.
Fortifications were not built on the islands until the Spanish–American War.
Hillsborough County established a quarantine station on the eastern side of Mullet Key in 1889. It became known as Mullet Key Quarantine Station. The Marine Hospital Service took over jurisdiction of the station in 1901. The duty of the station was to inspect aliens aboard ships arriving from foreign ports. By 1925, the station operated with fifteen buildings. The quarantine station operated until 1937, when the Public Health Service transferred its operations there to Gadsden Point, near Tampa.
The main operation on Mullet Key was named Fort De Soto in 1900, in honor of Hernando de Soto. The Army post was officially a subpost of Fort Dade, which was constructed on Egmont Key. These posts were to contain batteries of artillery and mortars to protect Tampa Bay from any invading forces. Construction of Fort De Soto began in November 1898 and was completed in 1906. The foundation was constructed of a seashell concrete formula, and the walls and ceiling used a seashell, stone, and concrete mix. The fort contained artillery and 12-inch coast defense mortar batteries, Batteries Laidley and Bigelow. The post consisted of 29 buildings. The post's features included a large barracks, a hospital, a guardhouse, a blacksmith and carpenter shop, an administration building, and mess hall with kitchen, a bakery, and a storehouse. The site also had brick roads, concrete sidewalks, and a narrow-gauge railroad to aid in moving materials and supplies around the post.
Fort De Soto was active from 1898 to 1910. At least one company was present at Fort De Soto at all times and many times several units were present. Mosquitoes were a constant problem and the post was very hot in the summers. In 1910, most of the Army troops were moved from Fort De Soto to Fort Morgan, Alabama. Only a caretaker force remained; by 1914, only an ordnance sergeant and game warden remained at the post. Through most of World War I, a larger caretaker force was at the post, usually with about twenty-two privates, two noncommissioned officers, and two commissioned officers. In 1917, four of Fort De Soto's mortars were disassembled and shipped to Fort Rosecrans in San Diego, California.
+ Coast Defenses of Tampa Batteries No. Guns Weapon/Mount Location Remarks Battery Laidley 8 12" Mortar Fort De Soto Partially disarmed 1921 Battery McIntosh 2 8" Gun, Disappearing Carriage Fort Dade Disarmed 1923 Battery Howard 2 6" Gun, Disappearing Carriage Fort Dade Disarmed 1926 Battery Burchsted 2 6" Armstrong Gun, Pedestal Mount Fort Dade Disarmed 1919 Battery Burchsted 1 3" Gun, Masking Pedestal Mount Fort Dade Disarmed 1920 Battery Bigelow 2 3" Gun, Masking Pedestal Mount Fort De Soto Disarmed 1920 Battery Mellon 3 3" Gun, Masking Pedestal Mount Fort Dade Disarmed 1920 Battery Page 2 3" Gun, Pedestal Mount Fort Dade Disarmed 1919
In November 1922, the Army announced it would de-activate both Forts De Soto and Dade. On 1 July 1924, the Harbor Defenses of Tampa were de-activated, designated as a subordinate installation of the Harbor Defenses of Pensacola, and reduced to caretaker status. By 1926, the forts had been disarmed except for four 12-inch mortars of Battery Laidley at Fort De Soto, which remained under caretaker status. The forts were meant to be reactivated and rearmed in time of war, but that never occurred. From 1929, the 637th Coast Artillery Regiment's mobilization assignment was the Coast Defenses of Tampa, but that unit was never initiated in the Organized Reserve. On 16 November 1935, the Headquarters, Headquarters Battery, and the Medical Department Detachment of the Coast Defenses of Tampa were organized with Regular Army Inactive (Organized Reserve) personnel from the Fourth Corps Area at large. A number of tropical storms and hurricanes severely damaged the buildings on the post. A few were destroyed, as was Battery Bigelow in 1932. The Army attempted to sell the post, but there was little interest. In September 1938, Pinellas County bought the areas on Mullet Key for $12,500.
Conversion to civilian use Shortly after Pinellas County purchased Mullet Key, county commissioners granted a lease to Percy L. Roberts for the use of land and buildings on the island the Mullet Key Quarantine Service had once used. The St. Petersburg Times reported the commission's action in its January 25, 1939, edition:
Lease of Mullet Key buildings to Percy Roberts was ratified Monday by county commissioners who made no change in the tentative lease approved last week.Roberts will pay the county $50 a month for the first year and $100 a month for the next two years for the lease of two buildings on the extreme south end of the county's property on the key.The lessee will operate a daily boat service to the island and will serve fish dinners and rent fishing tackle. The distance from his dock near the Bee Line ferry will be 10 miles. He will land in a sheltered cove on the north end of the island. Trips will be started in about three weeks.Staff (January 24, 1939) St. Petersburg Times p.7
Roberts, a native of St. Petersburg and local plumbing contractor, had a simple business plan. First, run a passenger boat to Mullet Key facilitating access to the isolated island. This service was expected to attract both fishermen and sightseers. For the fishermen, easy access to the pristine fishing waters of lower Tampa Bay; for the sightseers, easy access to the ruins of historic Fort De Soto and the white-sand beaches facing the Gulf of Mexico. Secondly, establish a hotel and restaurant on the island. Roberts envisioned creating a venue on the island appealing to clubs, associations, and other organizations for group outings of members for fishing, sightseeing, and "dining on fried mullet".
With lease in hand and business plan formulated, and with the financial support of Charles R. Carter, a local insurance executive and president of the Bee Line Ferry Co., Roberts immediately began implementing his plan.
For transportation to the isolated island, the passenger boat Hobo was put into service. Hobo operated daily from the Bee Line Ferry Terminal at St. Petersburg's Pinellas Point, pulling away from the dock early morning and leaving for the return trip late afternoon. Hobo was also available for chartered trips in between scheduled runs. "By boat" was not the only means of transportation to the island. A strip of land on the island was cleared in response to requests by some who wanted to fly small aircraft in and out.
Lodging and eating accommodations on the island were fashioned by renovating a building vacated by the Quarantine Service in 1937. The facility at best was austere, but one who was tired and hungry could get a good night's sleep; plenty of coffee, a hearty serving of bacon and eggs for breakfast; any of an assortment of sandwiches for lunch; and, a family style meal of fried mullet with all the trimmings for supper. A screened-in porch was there for those who just wanted to lean back, prop up the feet, enjoy a cool beverage, and relax. This facility became known familiarly as Mullet Key Lodge.
Rubert "Rube" Allyn, a writer for the St. Petersburg Times, included in his March 28, 1939, column, "Along the Waterfront":
When the Pinellas county commissioners leased the old Fort De Soto, and Mullet Key to Percy Roberts, they did a fine thing for the tourists by opening up the vast uninhabited reaches of Mullet Key and the old fort to exploration parties ... Today for a nominal fee, one can take a boat at Pinellas Point, and go to Mullet Key, land at the old Quarantine dock, enjoy an old-fashioned fish dinner prepared in the same manner as the pioneers of 50 years ago, by the Roberts family, and explore miles of uninhabited beaches, bayous, and the old Spanish–American War fort ...Allyn, Rubert (March 28, 1939) "Along the Waterfront" St. Petersburg Times
Bombing range In less than two years, Mullet Key Lodge became well established and profitable. However, this first for-profit business founded on the island was short-lived. The lease, granted to Roberts in 1939, had to be rescinded because the US War Department decided it wanted the island back for use as a bombing range by the U.S. Army Air Corps in support of air bases then being constructed in the Tampa Bay area. That pending transaction was reported by the St. Petersburg Times on December 18, 1940: