Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The Apalachicola Arsenal, originally known as the Mt. Vernon Arsenal, was built by the United States Army and served as an arms depot during the Second Seminole Indian War. Construction began in 1832, and was completed in 1839. The original compound consisted of nine buildings in a 400 ft. x 400 ft. quadrangle behind a 12-foot-high, 30-inch-thick perimeter wall, plus other outbuildings. The U.S. Army maintained the arsenal until 1861, when it was taken over by Confederate troops. Following the Civil War, the arsenal was used by the Freedman’s Bureau until 1868, and then as the state’s first penitentiary. In 1876, it became the first mental health hospital in Florida. This structure, built as a gunpowder storage building or “powder magazine,” is one of the arsenal’s original outbuildings and the only one to survive. It originally had a hip roof and a single doorway located in the south wall, and was surrounded by a high brick containment wall. Over time, the Florida State Hospital used the structure as a coffin factory, carpenter shop, sewing center, and mattress factory. After undergoing numerous alterations and a period of neglect and abandonment, the building’s restoration was completed in 2013.