Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: On a nearby knoll stood Fort King, important military outpost during the removal of the Florida Indians. Adjacent to a Seminole Agency established in 1825, it was named for Col. William King and first occupied in 1827. Outside its stockade, on December 28, 1835, warriors led by Osceola ambushed and killed Gen. Wiley Thompson and four others. On this same day, troops marching to the fort's relief perished in the Dade Massacre. In 1844, after the Seminole War ended, Fort King became the temporary seat of newly created Marion County.