A team of underwater archaeologists has uncovered the remains of aquarantine hospital and a small cemetery on a submerged island in Dry Tortugas National Park. The find, made near Fort Jefferson that has long dominated the history of the most isolated outposts in the United States during the 19th century.
Built to protect major shipping routes linking Gulf Coast ports with the eastern seaboard, the massive fort was home to soldiers, prisoners, laborers, and support staff for decades. Yet many of the people who lived and worked there have received little attention compared with the fort itself.
The newly discovered site helps broaden that story. Alongside evidence of medical facilities used during disease outbreaks, archaeologists uncovered traces of individuals whose lives have largely faded from the historical record.
A Historic Cemetery Connected to Fort Jefferson
As explained by a press release published by the University of Miami, the discovery was made during an underwater survey near Garden Key, the island where Fort Jefferson stands. While investigating the area, researchers identified the remains of the Fort Jefferson Post Cemetery, a burial ground mentioned in historical records.
Records examined by the survey team indicate that around a dozen people were buried there. Most were soldiers serving at the fort or prisoners held there. Several civilians were also laid to rest in the cemetery.
One burial stood out from the rest. Historical documents identify it as the grave of John Greer, a laborer who died in 1861.
“On the day we surveyed the site, we counted 25 pylons in all,” explained former Rosenstiel School graduate student Devon Fogarty. “We were preparing to return to our boat, when I noticed a rectangular-shaped patch of seaweed.”
The survey found that Greer’s burial was marked by a large slab of greywacke, the same stone used to build the first floor of Fort Jefferson. The slab had been shaped into a headstone and engraved with his name and date of death. However, the exact circumstances of his death have never been fully established.
Remains Of A Hospital Built During Yellow Fever
Researchers also uncovered the remains of a quarantine hospital, a facility linked to efforts to contain yellow fever outbreaks that affected the region during the 1860s and 1870s.
Historical accounts describe a network of quarantine hospitals established on islands surrounding Fort Jefferson. These facilities were used to isolate and care for people infected with the disease during periods when yellow fever posed a major threat.
The same records show that many of those hospitals fell out of use after Fort Jefferson was abandoned in 1873. The area later took on a medical role once again. Between 1890 and 1900, the U.S. Marine Hospital Service operated at the fort, creating a renewed need for an isolation hospital.
Archaeologists believe the structure identified during the survey dates from that later period. While much of the building has disappeared over time.
Untold Stories Beneath A Changing Landscape
The find is significant not only because of the structures uncovered but also because of the people connected to them.
“This intriguing find highlights the potential for untold stories in Dry Tortugas National Park, both above and below the water,” maritime archaeologist Josh Marano, who directed the project, said in a statement. “Although much of the history of Fort Jefferson focuses on the fortification itself and some of its infamous prisoners, we are actively working to tell the stories of the enslaved people, women, children and civilian laborers.”
Researchers are now working to better document the experiences of enslaved people, women, children, and civilian laborers who were also part of the site’s history. The survey further illustrates how dramatically the landscape has evolved.
Project findings note that the hospital and cemetery were originally built on solid ground. Over the years, shifting island conditions, powerful storms, erosion, and climate change transformed the area.
