A Never-Ending Challenge / Un Trabajo Que Nunca Se Acaba

Wind, rain, salt, sun, plants, people, and time wear away the stone and mortar walls at Fort San Juan de la Cruz, also known as El Canuelo, making preservation a never-ending task. Park staff preserve the small fort by controlling drainage, removing plants, and repairing structural damage, while visitors are urged to stay off the walls and not write on or otherwise damage them. El Canuelo is an irreplaceable reminder of the past. Water surrounded the fort until the U.S. Army built land around it in the 1940s, and the structures on top are the remains of a 19th-century leprosy quarantine station.