Fort Dallas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fort Dallas was established on the plantation of William English in 1836 as an United States military post and cantonment in southern Florida during the Seminole Wars. It was named in honor of Commodore Alexander James Dallas, U.S. Navy, who commanded U.S. naval forces in the West Indies. Fort Dallas remained in Union hands during the American Civil War and was abandoned afterward.

In 1891, Julia Tuttle brought her family to live in a large home on the Miami River that had been in use when Fort Dallas occupied the spot. Tuttle repaired and converted the home into one of the show places in the area with a sweeping view of the river and Biscayne Bay.

In 1895, following the successful efforts of Tuttle and fellow landowner William Brickell to attract a railroad, Fort Dallas was part of the site of the new city of Miami, Florida when Henry M. Flagler extended his Florida East Coast Railway south from Palm Beach. Perhaps coincidentally, Tuttle, Brickell, and Flagler were all originally from Cleveland, Ohio.