Tri-City Ledger -

There are few men in the early American history of Escambia County, Florida and of this region, who had more influence than a man named William H. Chase. Although his business efforts touched on many ventures, he is best remembered as a fort builder.

Chase was born in the far north in 1798. In 1815, after graduating West Point, he joined the U. S. Army’s Corp of Engineers and began to acquire the knowledge of fortifications. By 1819 he was involved with fort construction in Louisiana and in 1828 he was sent to begin defenses for the navy’s most important planned Gulf Coast installati...