A View of Old Fort Park

Along Indian River Dr close to downtown Fort Pierce is a little park called Old Fort Park. This is the original site of the fort that Fort Pierce is named after. The fort was built in 1838 during the Second Seminole War. The fort was constructed of sabal palm trunks for walls and thatched palm leaves for the roof. Today the park has 100's of Sabal Palms and it also has a fresh water stream that flows into the Indian River. It is thought that this was why the location was selected for the fort. And before the fort was there it is also thought to be a seasonal camp for the Ais Indians who became extint in the 1600's when the Europeans arrived. There is an Indian burial mound that stand 50ft tall at the park, but is cover with dense vegetation making it nearly impossible to see from the road . Here are a few pictures, of the Sabals, the steps that lead up the burial mound, and the last is a fresh water stream that feeds into the Indian River. On the left side of my blog I have a painting from Rick Kelly depicting the fresh water stream and the Indian River name The Old Fort.