Fort Clinch State Park spans 1,100 acres on a peninsula near the north end of Amelia Island, where diverse coastal habitats surround a 19th-century brick fort. Begun in 1847 after the Second Seminole War and named for General Duncan Lamont Clinch, Fort Clinch was occupied by Confederate troops in 1861, reoccupied by Union forces in 1862 without fighting, and completed under Union control through the Civil War before serving during Reconstruction. Florida acquired part of the site in 1935 and opened the park in 1938. Today it pairs preserved military history and monthly Civil War living history with beaches, trails, campgrounds, and notable wildlife viewing.