Batteries Cullum and Sevier at Gulf Islands National Seashore, Florida

See the Military Forts and Batteries web page for an interactive location map.

Batteries Cullum and Sevier, two of many military installations within Gulf Islands National Seashore, were originally built as one battery between 1896 and 1898. The single battery had four 10-inch disappearing guns and went by the name Cullum, named for Brigadier General George Cullum. Cullum was the man who came up with a directory of West Point graduates, called the Cullum Register. Even today graduates have a Cullum Number. In 1916 the battery was divided into two sections as a way to prevent fire from destroying the entire structure at once. The western end was named after John Sevier, Tennessee’s first governor.

These two batteries are the only ones at Fort Pickens that are closed to the public due to advanced deterioration. All you can do is look at them through a chain-link fence—for the best photo, take one from the top of Fort Pickens with a telephoto lens.

In 2018, the National Park Service commissioned a study to see what had to be done to restore the structure. Plans are to one day restore and reopen the battery to the public. Based on my knowledge of other such projects, I’ll believe it when I see it.