Stetson University Athletics

Fort Dade was an old military outpost on Egmont Key that is a relic from the Spanish American War. Being a sister fort to Fort Desoto it saw little to no action. The island was used as a Seminole prison at one time. When troops were stationed there they enjoyed tennis courts, baseball, a movie theater, and a gymnasium. It consisted of several coastal artillery batteries protecting the main ship channel into Tampa Bay, as well as a secondary channel to the south of the island. A hospital at Fort Dade was used to quarantine all American soldiers returning from Cuba for ten days. During World War I Fort Dade was used as a training center for National Guard Coast Artillery Units. The fort was deactivated in 1921.