Fort Hamer, Florida
Unincorporated community
Fort Hamer
Fort Hamer is located in Manatee County
Fort Hamer
Fort Hamer
Location within Manatee County, Florida
Coordinates: 27°31′31″N 82°25′48″W / 27.52528°N 82.43000°W / 27.52528; -82.43000[1]
CountryUnited States
StateFlorida
CountyManatee
EstablishedNovember 28, 1849 (1849-11-28)
Elevation
7 ft (2 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code941
FIPS code12-23895[1]
GNIS feature ID295293[1]

Fort Hamer is an unincorporated area in Manatee County, Florida, United States, and was the name of a short-lived U.S. Army fort in eastern Manatee County. Although the area is named for Fort Hamer, the former military installation has never been precisely located through historical or archaeological research.[2]

History

Fort Hamer was established on November 28, 1849, as part of an order by Major General David E. Twiggs to remove Seminole people from Florida after various pioneer outposts in the state were attacked by Seminole outsiders. The order established a 200-mile-span (320 km) of forts from Manatee River to the Indian River.[3] Named after Gen. Thomas L. Hamer, a brigadier general and strong ally of Andrew Jackson, the fort consisted of several log buildings including a hospital, commissary, hay barn and accommodations for around 165 soldiers at its inception. The stretch of forts constructed under General Twiggs's command were abandoned only a year after opening. In 1856, during the Third Seminole War, Fort Hamer was once again used in service. Here, a detachment of 10 men in Capt. William Hooker's Company from the Florida Mounted Volunteers were stationed. Twenty-seven years after the fort was first established, Fort Hamer was decommissioned. On Feb. 26, 1876, the War Department formally turned over the property to the Department of the Interior.[3]

By 1895, none of the fort remained. The area was described as a sandy bank on the Manatee River that was a popular location for boating and day-trips.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved June 20, 2018.
  2. ↑ "The Hardships and Inconveniences: The Manatee River Forts during the Seminole Wars".
  3. 1 2 Donahue-Farrell, Bridget (August 20, 2017). "The Crisis of 1849 and the establishment of Fort Hamer". Bradenton Herald. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Bradentown Manatee River Journal Archives, May 2, 1895, p. 1". NewspaperArchive.com. May 2, 1895. Retrieved May 12, 2020.


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