Fort Gadsden, also known as the Negro Fort, was built by the British during the War of 1812. In 1818 the U.S. government took over and rebuilt the fort, naming it after the lieutenant who supervised the construction.

In 1814 the fort, located 50 miles from the then-U.S. boundary, served as a base for the recruitment of Indians and blacks fleeing slavery in Georgia and the Carolinas.

After the fort was abandoned by the English in 1815, Andrew Jackson constructed Fort Scott on the opposing side of the Apalachicola River. Once completed in 1816, Fort Scott's first order of business was to destroy the Negro Fort, as the English fort had come to be known. All but 30 of the 300 inhabitants died in the attack, and Fort Gadsden was constructed on its site.

Due to the significance of the Apalachicola River to area transportation, a company of Confederate infantry occupied this site in 1862 as a deterrent to Union navy ventures up the river.

An outbreak of malaria in July 1863 forced the withdrawal of the infantry company, but a few Confederate sentries continued to be stationed at the fort for use as an observation post. In January 1865, several Confederate pickets at Fort Gadsden were surprised and captured by a Union navy raiding party.

Fort Gadsden and the remains of the Negro Fort are found in the wilderness of the Apalachicola National Forest. Both are National Historic landmarks maintained by the U. S. Forest Service.

Interpretive exhibits and artifacts on the role of Native and African Americans during the early 1800s are displayed along a level pathway on the banks of the Apalachicola River.

A testament to the cultural diversity of Florida during the Second Spanish Period, interpretive exhibits and artifacts on the role of Native and African Americans during the early 1800s are displayed at this National Historic Landmark along the banks of the Apalachicola River.

Information provided by Visit Florida and the Florida Division of Historical Resources.