Fort Clinch is located on Amelia Island, Florida, at the extreme northeast point in the State. In some shots, you'll see a stretch of land in the distance across the water. That's the state of Georgia.

Preliminary work on the fort commenced in 1847. When the civil war broke out in 1861, the fort was not completely built out and no cannons had been installed. At that time, the Confederate's owned the site but General Lee ordered the site to be evacuated. The Union forces then occupied the fort, finished construction, and installed all of the cannons. The fort never played a role in any of the war's actual combat, but it still served as a deterrent to the Confederate's moving in support during the war to inland waters.

The large cannons had an effective range from 3 to 6 miles...depending on the wight of the shells that were fired. Those shells weighed from 25 lbs. to 100 lbs. The smaller cannons had a range from 1 to 3 miles.

After 1869, the fort was essentially vacated of all personnel and military functions. In 1898, with the advent of the Spanish-American War, the fort was again activated to military use, but after about a year and a half, was evacuated once again and stayed that way until it was sold to the State of Florida in 1935. It then became one of Florida's first state parks.