This is a Spanish built fort, as St Augustine’s where the fort is located was founded by the Spanish in 1565. At first the city was defended by wooden forts, but following an attack in 1668 the Queen Marianna decided that a masonry fort should be built. Construction started in 1672 and it was known as the Castillo de San Marcos. The fort came under attack many times, the first by the British in 1702, but the residents remained safe in the fort and the attack was unsuccessful. The second attempt by the British in 1739 once again proved unsuccessful. In 1763 the British were finally successful, but it was not by attack, they were given the fort by The Treaty of Paris, they were given all of Florida in exchange for giving Havana and Manila back to Spain. The British changed its name to Fort St Mark. The next time it was needed was during the American Revolution where it was mainly used as a prison.  It remained with the British until after the war when the second Treaty of Paris returned Florida to Spain in 1784. They changed its name back to the original. Border problems starting to happen between Spanish Florida and the new United States and due to several different things and pressure from them Spain in 1821 signed the Adams Onis Treaty ceding Florida to the United States. The Americans changed its name to Fort Marion and the only real change to the fort was that some of the rooms were turned into cells. The fort was left for a time and only a caretaker stayed there at this time in 1861 the fort was taken by the confederency after showing the caretaker proof of receipt. Most of the artillery was removed leaving the fort almost defenceless. The fort was taken back in 1862 when the USS Wasbush entered the bay , in order to preserve the town the city leaders handed it over without a fight. For the rest of its time it was used as a military prison. In 1900 it was taken off the active duty role. In 1924 it was designated a National Monument and in 1933 it was transferred to the National Park Service.  In honour of its Spanish Heritage its names was changed back to Castillo de San Marcos in 1942. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. Since the park services took over it has been a popular tourist attraction.