Southern Comfort

Florida

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine is the oldest masonry fort in the continental US. The fort is more than 320 years old and educates visitors about the Spanish military life in the 1600s. There are many interesting interactive and educational elements here. Castillo de San Marcos is home to several preservation projects, among which the best known are the Cannon Preservation Project and the 3D Digital Documentation Project, which will benefit museums and historical preservation throughout the world.

Castle Otttis, located in St. Augustine, was built as a landscape sculpture. This castle serves as a huge work of art. It has 88 glassless windows. This art project was created by Ottis Sadler and Rusty Ickes. Before they knew it, the castle had become a tourist attraction. You can visit the castle by making an appointment.

Georgia

Castle on Peachtree Street in the historic district of Atlanta. It was built in the 1900s in the medieval Romanesque and Victorian styles. This lovely fortress has stained glass windows and mahogany staircases.

Kentucky

The Kentucky Castle is a luxury hotel, restaurant, and spa. It is located in Versailles, Kentucky. The castle grounds include a fully functioning produce farm with vegetables, truffle orchards, lavender fields, and a berry patch to ensure that the produce used in the restaurant is of the best quality and always fresh. The farm is also home to goats, rescue horses, chickens, and honey bees. The castle is a venue for events and weddings.

Louisiana

The Old Capitol Building in Baton Rouge looks just like a lovely castle. It has turrets, stained glass, and cathedral doors. The structure has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Today it is a museum.

North Carolina

Homewood is an amazing manor in Asheville and is used as a venue for events like weddings. In the 1920s this manor was built for Dr. and Mrs. Robert Carroll, who played host to famous guests such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Vanderbilts. Many of the original furnishings are still a part of the interior, as well as the original floors and fireplaces.

Among the highlights is the Great Room, which has a 20-foot ceiling and room for more than 100 guests.

South Carolina

The Citadel in Charleston is part of a campus called the Citadel. The castle serves as the military college of South Carolina with more than 2,000 members of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets.

Tennessee

To get to Point Park in Chattanooga, visitors have to pass through the castle gates at the entrance to the park. These historic gates were built in 1904 and are a large interpretation of insignia used by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The interior of the castle cannot be toured, but the park is full of Civil War history. It offers a great view of the Lookout Mountain Battlefield, where the Battle Above the Clouds was fought. Lookout Mountain was one engagement in the Chattanooga battles between Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s Military Division of the Mississippi and the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen. Braxton Bragg.

Spring Castle is located in Rock Island State Park. This is a tiny castle that sits by one of the many hiking trails in the park. You can hike and see waterfalls, an abandoned cotton mill, and this beautiful castle. The Falls City Cotton Mill is nationally registered as a historic place that operated from 1892 to 1902. The Spring Castle, located next to the cotton mill, is small in size due to the fact that it served as cold storage for the cotton mill workers.

Texas

Falkenstein Castle in Kingsland might make you think you are in Germany. The owners of the castle, Terry and Kim Young, were inspired by the original drawing of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. The castle is a venue for weddings.

Newman’s Castle in Bellville has medieval features. It sits in the hill country and has turrets, a moat, and a 3,000-pound drawbridge. Two-hour tours are available and include a lunch made by Newman’s Bakery. The castle can be rented out for events.