The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Fort Kissimmee

Of the chain of military posts established across central Florida during the Seminole Wars, Fort Kissimmee is the only one confirmed to stand within the modern boundaries of Highlands County.[wiki-fort-arbuckle][tdar-107391-austin-1986] Located on the west bank of the Kissimmee River approximately twenty miles east of Avon Park, the fort site is recorded in the Florida Master Site File as 8HG15, and the surrounding historic settlement as 8HG20.[tdar-107391-austin-1986][tdar-111901-austin-1987]

Feature Detail
Florida Master Site File 8HG15 (Fort); 8HG20 (Community)
County (modern) Highlands
Established January 1850
Reactivated 1855, for the Third Seminole War
Abandoned by military 1858
Function River supply depot and defensive blockhouse
Surviving elements Fort Kissimmee Cemetery; blockhouse structure no longer extant

Fort Kissimmee was constructed in January 1850 as part of an interior defensive line running from the Manatee River to the Indian River — connecting Fort Chokonikla, Fort Meade, Fort Clinch, Fort Arbuckle, and Fort Kissimmee — intended to secure the frontier and monitor the remaining Seminole population.[wiki-fort-arbuckle] It was situated where the military road from Fort Brooke to Fort Capron crossed the Kissimmee River.[floridamemory-321149] Troops stationed at the isolated river post suffered severely from malaria.[fortwiki-kissimmee]

The pioneer settlement and 1942 removal

Although military operations ceased in 1858, a civilian settlement developed around the river landing and persisted for more than eighty years.[tdar-111901-austin-1987] Following the Third Seminole War, cattle-ranching families moved into the Kissimmee River valley. Lewis Henry Thomas donated land for the community’s church, school, and cemetery, operated a river barge ferry, acquired acreage between 1885 and 1890, and maintained cattle, hogs, and a citrus packing house.[legends-ftk] Children from neighboring ranches and the lumber settlement of Kicco attended the school, relying on riverboats and ferries in the absence of developed road networks.[legends-ftk] A 1994 descendant monument records that the community ultimately built three successive schools, with a Missionary Baptist Church serving as the second.[genealogytrails-ftk]

The cemetery dates to circa 1890. Its earliest documented burials are John Sheffield and Henry Shaw, cattlemen who fatally shot one another in an 1892 dispute; according to tradition, their coffins were built from the community’s schoolhouse lumber, and their graves lie beneath an oak.[wiki-ftk-cemetery][legends-ftk][rootsweb-okeechobee-cemeteries]

In 1942, the federal government condemned the land for the Avon Park Bombing Range, requiring all civilian residents to relocate.[legends-ftk][tdar-107391-austin-1986] The displaced families moved to surrounding communities including Fort Basinger, Lorida, and Okeechobee. While residential buildings were dismantled, the Fort Kissimmee Cemetery was preserved on approximately 4.25 acres through negotiations between local citizens and the military.[wiki-ftk-cemetery][legends-ftk] The site remains an enclave within the modern Avon Park Air Force Range.

Historical significance

Fort Kissimmee provides the primary documented anchor for Seminole Wars military operations inside Highlands County.[tdar-107391-austin-1986] Its archaeological remains (8HG15) and subsequent settlement footprint (8HG20) document both nineteenth-century military border operations and early Kissimmee River valley cattle settlement.[tdar-111901-austin-1987]

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Fort Arbuckle (Florida), with the associated 1850 defensive line (2026)
  2. FortWiki, Fort Kissimmee (2026)
  3. Legends of America, Fort Kissimmee, Florida - Ghost Town & Military Post (2026)
  4. Wikipedia, Fort Kissimmee Cemetery (2026)
  5. Robert J. Austin and Jacquelyn G. Piper (Piper Archaeological Research), Preliminary Cultural Resource Assessment Survey of the Avon Park Air Force Range, Polk and Highlands Counties, Florida (APAFR Report AP0003) (1986) · official
  6. Robert J. Austin, Prehistoric and Early Historic Settlement in the Kissimmee River Valley - An Archaeological Survey of the Avon Park Air Force Base (APAFR Report AP0004) (1987) · official
  7. Genealogy Trails, Fort Kissimmee Cemetery monument transcription (2026)
  8. FloridaGenWeb, Okeechobee County Cemeteries: Ft. Kissimmee Cemetery (2026)
  9. State Library and Archives of Florida, Origin and Development of Polk County (2026)

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