Fort Pickens program to highlight Civil War experience

GULF BREEZE — Gulf Islands National Seashore will hold its annual Candlelight Program 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., July 27 at Fort Pickens, 1801 Gulf Breeze Parkway in Gulf Breeze. 

The Candlelight Program is a way for visitors to experience the fort in a whole new light, to learn about life at the fort and the experience of a Civil War soldier at Fort Pickens in 1861.    

Park rangers, volunteers and Youth Conservation Corps members will guide visitors through Fort Pickens with stops featuring unique stories. Living historians will be on site to provide further insight into the life of a soldier at Fort Pickens during the early years of the American Civil War. 

In appropriate dress, visitors may bring drinking water and a flashlight. This is a rain or shine event. The program is free, but there is an entrance fee for the Fort Pickens Area. 

Members of the YCC planned and present this program. The YCC provides paid opportunities for young members of the community to spend their summer protecting the nation’s special resources.

Gulf Islands National Seashore will host six local high school students in Florida for eight weeks and four in Mississippi.

Contact the national seashore at 934-2600 for additional information. 

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Fort Pickens program to highlight Civil War experience