About Fort King National Historic Landmark
Fort King National Historic Landmark preserves the location of an important U.S. Army post on Florida's nineteenth-century frontier. Positioned near the northern boundary of lands designated for the Seminole people, the post became closely tied to federal removal policy and the events that ignited the Second Seminole War. The site is associated with Seminole leader Osceola, Indian agent Wiley Thompson and the military network that supplied U.S. operations across central Florida.
The modern historic campus includes a full-scale reconstruction of the fort, a visitor center, an archaeological resource center, a heritage teaching garden, a Seminole-style chickee and walking trails leading to Seep Spring. Artifacts, interpretive displays, living-history programs and special events present both military and Seminole perspectives while also explaining how the former post later became an early center of government for Marion County and Ocala.
