Garden Key is the site of historic Fort Jefferson National Monument, a hexagonal structure with walls 425 feet long rising from a surrounding moat. In 1846, the US Army began to construct a massive fortification on the tiny island known as Garden Key. Sixteen million bricks were ...
The lighthouse on Garden Key arose in 1826. After the 1873 hurricane, a new lighthouse of iron plate was built atop Fort Jefferson, 70 feet High atop the fortress, marking the harbor entrance until its deactivation in 1924.
the best shelter is SW of Garden Key and the channel encircling it, where protection is afforded from NW winds. However, the holding ground is poor, as boats drag anchor along the silty bottom. Anchorage overnight is allowed in this area.
Bird Key Harbor, reached through the narrow channel encircling Garden Key, wich is well marked, is an excellent anchorage. The entrance to Bird Key Harbor is narrow, and care is required to avoid the shoals on either side. The main entrance channel is marked by daybeacons.
Loggerhead Key, the other of the two principal keys in the Dry Tortugas, is 2.5 miles W of Garden Key. It have a conical tower, lower half white and upper half black, near the center of Loggerhead Key.
Bush Key, just E of Garden Key, is a refuge for noddy and sooty terns. These birds come in early April and leave in September.
Bush Key est située juste à l'E de Garden Key. C'est un refuge pour les oiseaux qui viennent chaque année en Avril et s'en vont en Septembre.
