Military forts have long stood in the Florida Keys. The four prominent ones, Fort Zachary Taylor, Fort Jefferson, Fort East Martello and Fort West Martello, were built by the Union during the Civil War.
They are not the only forts that were established in the Florida Keys.
During the second escalation of the Seminole War, a small Navy fortification stood on Tea Table Key, a small island in the Islamorada area of the Upper Keys. The Feb. 20, 1839 Charleston Mercury printed a story mentioning it: “Notice to masters of vessels passing the Gulf of Florida – Captain Edward Griffiths, who has commanded the mail boat, the past year, from this place to Key West Florida, informs us that the reported false light, shown by the wreckers, opposite Alligator reef, is the watch fire on Tea Table Key. The master and crew of the revenue cutter Campbell, are in possession of this key which is now called Fort Paulding, and when the guard at night replenish the fire, it has the appearance of a revolving light. Captain Griffith is well acquainted with the coast, and says this light bears N.N.W. of Alligator reef, and is very near Indian Key. This information is given for the benefit of masters of vessels; and so Captain Griffiths wishes the northern papers to notice the above.”
The fort was named in honor of James Kirke Paulding, the acting Secretary of the Navy.
It was nothing like the brick fortifications still standing on Key West and Garden Key, in the Dry Tortugas. Calling it a fort was ambitious, as it was more of a camp. There were tents for the barracks and tents for the hospital, and a few palm-thatched structures where supplies could be stored. Also, a house was built for Lt. Coste, the fort’s commanding officer.
There was discussion about the appropriateness of the dwelling, and the manner in which it was constructed. The following is a transcription of a letter from the Office of the Revenue Cutters addressing some of those concerns: “Key West, November 10, 1839 – I certify that Lt. Coste while in command of the USRC Campbell, I being acting 1st Lt. under his command and at all times present whenever any men were employed on Tea Table Key and no men were ordered by me or Lt. Coste to work on his house, or the contrary he frequently instructed me not to permit any of the crew to assist at his individual property but that at several times part of the crew belong to the vessels were employed constructing a palmetto house, the frame of which was brought from Cape Florida to Tea Table Key (the fact of which the Department was advised) which houses was intended for boat and store houses where provisions were stored when brought up and boats stored for repairs – Nor were the carpenter of the crew of the USRC Campbell employed.”
Dr. Henry Perrine, who arrived with his family at Indian Key on December 25, 1838, had a thing or two to say about Coste. On one occasion, he wrote, “Be it understood Lieut. Coste occupies and claims this Key as his own, from the fact that since September last, he has been clearing it, improving it, and building on it, with governmental means of men and materials; that he is this converting said Tea-Table Key into a town-site for a rival port of Indian Key, under the apparent patronage of the inimical proprietors and public offices of Key West; and that hence, not content with speculating in town lots, he is determined to speculate also in tropical plants by the abuse of the same governmental means.”
Lt. Coste was not the last man in charge of Fort Paulding. The last commanding officer was Lt. John T. McLaughlin. On December 2, 1839, the Secretary of the Navy ordered him to, among other things, “… furnish yourself with a sufficient number of flat bottomed boats and in addition to these procure a like sufficiency of long plantation canoes… By this means the Department cannot but hope you will be able to penetrate the Everglades further than any white men, surprise and capture the Indian women and children and thus end war that has cost so many millions…”
On August 4, 1840, McLaughlin wrote to Paulding that, “Lt. Rogers in the Wave, sailed today with 18 canoes for Cape Romano, on the western coast, touching on his passage at Tea Table Key for provisions and to take off all the people capable of quitting the hospital, for another attempt to cross the Everglades from the vicinity…”
Only Midshipman Murray and five sailors remained to administer aid to the hospital’s sick and wounded. When Indians attacked Indian Key, the sparse force left at Fort Paulding was ill-prepared to offer meaningful assistance to the people of the island. Seven were killed. Many of the island’s structures were set on fire.
In the days that followed, McLaughlin informed the Secretary of the Navy that Fort Paulding was moving to the more favorable locale at Indian Key. Among the reasons presented were the presence of Indian Key’s wharves, storage facilities, the presence of freshwater (likely referencing cisterns that had already been established on the island), and the fact that by moving his operation to Indian Key, he would not have to divide his troops to protect both Tea Table Key and Indian Key.
Approximately $12,000 was spent improving Indian Key. The work included three round red-brick cisterns. From June 1841 through August 1842, McLaughlin’s force, headquartered at Fort Paulding, consisted of seven schooners, two gun barges, 140 canoes, and 622 men; during the period that Indian Key served as Fort Paulding’s headquarters and hospital, 23 officers and seamen, in addition to 17 marines, succumbed to illness or injury.
The second escalation of the war ended in 1842; Fort Paulding was abandoned, and military operations moved away. The most distinctive reminder of Indian Key’s military era is the circular red-brick cisterns. No remnants of the fortification remain at Tea Table Key, a privately owned island that can be rented for tropical escapes and special events.
