New ‘Fort Sumter’ tour opens in Florida
Florida Governor Rick Scott is unveiling a new tour of historic sites along the state’s South Florida coastline, which will be the first in the nation to use an ATV.
Scott said the tour will take place in Florida’s largest city, Miami, and will highlight Fort Sumter, a Confederate Army fort built during the Civil War that was destroyed during the U.S. Civil War.
Scott will also be touring other historic sites, including the Miami Metro, the Fort Lauderdale Metro and Fort Lee Metro.
He said Fort Sumters history is a key part of the tour, as is the Confederate flag and other Confederate symbols.
The Fort Summers tour is the first of its kind in the state, and it will be offered through the South Florida Tourism Corp. and the Florida Department of Tourism.
The tour is part of Scott’s effort to combat tourism-related damage to historic sites.
“Our goal is to keep the state and tourism economy going and to ensure that people have a sense of pride in our heritage and that our history and heritage are not just forgotten,” Scott said.
Scott was the first governor to visit Fort Summerson in the 1950s, when he toured the fort.
Scott also said he hopes the tour inspires the South Floridians to become more respectful of history.
“The way that history is being presented is so disrespectful to the lives and deaths of the soldiers and men that fought for our nation, and their sacrifice,” Scott told reporters on Tuesday.
Scott’s Fort Summer tour comes on the heels of a tour of Fort Lee, Virginia, in which the governor will discuss the history of the city, which was founded in 1778 and has a Confederate battle flag hanging in City Hall.
“We are celebrating the history that makes Fort Summey one of the greatest cities in America and one of our greatest monuments to the people that fought here and fought for freedom,” Scott added.
“That’s why I’m here today.
It’s part of what makes this state great.”
The new tour will be in the city’s main square, with a giant flagpole in front of City Hall and a large bronze statue of George Washington in the National Museum of the American South.
On Wednesday, Scott will travel to the City Hall Square in Fort Lee to speak to Fort Summonsers troops, which he said will give people a sense for what it meant to fight for freedom.
“We’ll also look at how Fort Sumner was one of a handful of sites that had Confederate flag in the public square,” Scott stated.
Scott said the Fort Summs tour will also highlight Fort Lee’s importance to the state as a “cultural center” and that it will provide a great example of how South Florida has “changed over the years.”
“I hope this will help us all understand how our history is so important to us,” Scott concluded.
For more information on Fort Summor tours and other historic events in Florida, visit the Florida Tourism Bureau.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.