LOCATION
The Fort Pickens Discovery Center is located in one of the white buildings with green roofs at the western end of Santa Rosa Island in the Fort Pickens Area of Gulf Islands National Seashore. The Discovery Center building is single story and looks similar to a railroad depot. Most of the other buildings are multi-story houses that were once homes to officers stationed at the fort. These buildings were constructed between the two World Wars.
HOURS
The Fort Pickens Discovery Center is open daily from 9 AM to 4:30 PM, except for when closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. Times can always change, so before making travel plans be sure to visit Gulf Islands National Seashore’s Fort Pickens Area web page for the latest schedule.
PARK FILM
There are two films shown at the Fort Pickens Discovery Center. A Fort Pickens Tour is 15-minutes long and shows on demand—just push a button to start the film. It is literally a filming of a Ranger-guided tour of Fort Pickens. If you are not able to fit a tour into your schedule, then this movie is the next best thing. The only problem with the setup is that the film is not shown in its own room, but in the general museum area. There is a parabolic speaker that concentrates the sound to the viewing area, so extraneous noise from people milling around the exhibits is not a huge problem, but it can be distracting nonetheless. The film is suitable for all ages, though young children will have no interest in it.
The second film is Stories of Survival, a 25-minute documentary that is shown in an actual auditorium every half hour. The film covers the entire Gulf Islands National Seashore, including the Mississippi Unit of the park. The focus is mainly the natural history of the islands, but the military history is also briefly discussed. I was surprised by the amount of detail provided by the film, especially its coverage of some of the Mississippi barrier islands that most people do not have access to. The film is suitable for all ages, and younger children are more likely to enjoy this film than the one on Fort Pickens.
EXHIBITS
About 80 percent of the exhibits in the Fort Pickens Discovery Center focus on the Gulf Islands: animals, geology, environment, etc. How climate change is affecting the islands is a major topic, and an exhibit on trash and how long it lasts before decomposing is quite interesting. There are also a number of interactive exhibits and games for kids, plus many short videos that go along with the displays.
There are also a few exhibits that cover the human history of Santa Rosa Island, and not just history relating to Fort Pickens. The timeline begins with the first Indians who lived in the area, then continues with the Spanish conquest of Florida and progresses to the Civil War and the military forts that now populate the island.
SCHEDULING YOUR TIME
For those who want to read all of the information at the Fort Pickens Discovery Center, plan to send 45 minutes just for that task. Of course very few visitors have this in mind, but I still suggest allotting 15 minutes at a minimum. If you watch the two films, add another 45 minutes. I spent 1.5 hours at the museum, though I did not watch all of the short films at the exhibits.
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Last updated on April 27, 2022