Florida - Apalachicola Arsenal
Apalachicola Arsenal - Chattahoochee
C.S.S. Chattahoochee
An explosion aboard the C.S.S.
Chattahoochee cost the lives of
17 men, who were buried in
1863 near the Arsenal.
Original Workshops
This structure, to the left of the
surviving Officers' Quarters, is
one of the original buildings of
the arsenal. An old plat shows
this building was used as a
workshop.
The Apalachicola Arsenal
on the grounds of Florida State Hospital
Chattahoochee, Florida
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Although its name has led some
historians to misplace it in the city of
the same name, the Apalachicola
Arsenal actually stood in the town of
Chattahoochee near the Georgia
border.
Named for the Apalachicola River, the
military complex was constructed
during the 1830s and served as a
supply depot during the Seminole
Wars.
On January 6, 1861, the first action of
the Civil War in Florida took place
here when a militia unit from Quincy
took the arsenal from its small
garrison of U.S. soldiers. Although no
shots were fired, the Floridians had to
force their way into the facility.
Later used as a training camp by the
Confederates and then a prison and
mental health facility by the state of
Florida, several structures from the
original 4-acre complex survive. The
most easily accessible of these are
the old Officers' Quarters and an
adjacent guardroom and workshop.
To view the outsides of the old Officers'
Quarters, enter the grounds of the Florida
State Hospital through the main entrance on
U.S. Highway 90 in Chattahoochee. The
hospital grounds are open to the public.
Follow the signs to the Administration
Building. This structure is the original Officers'
Quarters of the Arsenal. To the left of and
adjoining the Officers' Quarters is the old
Guardroom. Across the street to the left and
in line with these buildings, one of the
surviving workshops can also be seen.
