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19th-century hospital, cemetery found underwater on submerged island off Florida
Major outbreaks of disease on the island exacted a heavy toll on those staying there, killing dozens throughout the 1860s and 1870s.
Archeologists have found the remains of a 19th-century quarantine hospital and cemetery on a submerged island in the Dry Tortugas national park, off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico.
According to the park officials, only one grave has been identified while historical records indicate dozens of people – mostly US soldiers stationed at Fort Jefferson – may have been buried at the site now in waters west of Key West, Florida, reported The Guardian.
A statement by the National Park Service said that the small quarantine hospital was used to treat yellow fever patients at the fort between 1890 and 1900.
“In August 2022, park cultural resources staff, assisted by members of the National Park Service’s Submerged Resources Center, the Southeast Archeological Center, and a University of Miami graduate student conducted a survey that led to the findings. Since that time, they have been researching historical records to learn more about the site and the individual,” the park service added.
While mostly known for its use as a military prison during the American Civil War, the islands and waters surrounding Fort Jefferson were also used for a naval coaling outpost, lighthouse station, naval hospital, quarantine facility, and more generally for safe harbor and military training.
As the population of Fort Jefferson swelled with military personnel, prisoners, enslaved people, engineers, support staff, laborers, and their families, the risk of deadly communicable diseases, particularly the mosquito-borne yellow fever, drastically increased. Major outbreaks of disease on the island exacted a heavy toll on those staying there, killing dozens throughout the 1860s and 1870s.
