By the time Bartram arrived in 1765, Fort Mose had fallen silent—its structures gone, but its legacy alive in the soil. This was once the first legally sanctioned free Black settlement in what would become the United States. A place where freedom had been claimed, defended, and, ultimately, buried by time. Bartram stood on sacred ground—rich with stories, though no voices remained to tell them.
Bartram Explores: Anastasia Island
Bartram stepped onto Anastasia Island and found a coastline scattered with seashells and streaked with sunlight. But just beneath the surface, he discovered coquina—stone born from centuries of shells compacted by time. This island wasn’t just beautiful. It was building material waiting to be found.
Bartram Explores: The Quarry
In the coquina quarry, nature met labor. Bartram watched men carve blocks from the compressed shellstone, each one shaped by time and tide, then cut loose by hand. What was once ocean floor would soon become fort walls—proof that Florida’s geology was both a wonder and a resource.
Bartram Explores: Ye Watch House
At the edge of the sea, Bartram found the Watch House—a lonely outpost of coquina, built not for sailors, but to scan the horizon for danger. Its thick walls held centuries of storms, soldiers, and silence. It was a relic of a Florida on high alert.
