A bastion of Florida Keys history

Designed after the nearly impregnable coastal Martello watchtowers in Italy, the Fort East Martello was never completed and never saw hostile action. Its outer bulwark and inner citadel with eight-foot thick granite walls built during the Civil War era were a monument to military engineering and could have withstood any amount of bombardment at the time. But the development of explosive shells made these defenses passé.
Today its casemates, citadel and courtyard are home to a vast collection of Key West and Key's artifacts and