KEY WEST, FLORIDA—Gray News reports that the remains of a nineteenth-century quarantine hospital and cemetery have been found at a now submerged site in Dry Tortugas National Park. Between 1890 and 1900, the hospital treated yellow fever patients from nearby Fort Jefferson, a brick structure completed in 1826. Researchers from the National Park Service explained that quarantining dozens of patients at the hospital likely saved hundreds of lives. Most of those buried in the cemetery were members of the military, but the headstones of several civilians, including a laborer named John Greer who died in 1861, were also found. “Although much of the history of Fort Jefferson focuses on the fortification itself and some of its infamous prisoners, we are actively working to tell the stories of the enslaved people, women, children, and civilian laborers,” said project director Josh Marano. To read about a shipwreck off the coast of Key Largo, go to "World Roundup: Florida."
