Fort Hancock

Outline map showing the Sandy Hook peninsula

Housing area in Fort Hancock, facing west

Fort Hancock is a former fort in Monmouth County , New Jersey in the United States . Located on the northern tip of the Sandy Hook peninsula, it was designed to face attacks from the Atlantic Ocean . In the early years, the aim was primarily to defend against enemy ships. At the height of the Cold War , Nike missiles were used to intercept warplanes off New York City .

Fort Hancock was one of a series of defenses that were combined under the name Sandy Hook Proving Ground since August 7, 1874 by the then US War Department . Fort Hancock was established in 1859 and dissolved in 1974. Since 2003, as Fort Hancock Memorial Park, it has belonged to the Gateway National Recreation Area (GNR), which has a total of eleven locations in the two states of New York and New Jersey and operates the preservation and renaturation of formerly populated areas. GNR, in turn, is administered by the National Park Service . As Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District , this Historic District has been classified as a National Historic Landmark since December 1982 .

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The approximately 14.6 hectare site is on the side of the peninsula facing away from the sea. At Hartshorn Drive ( ^▼ ) there was a gate and a guard during military use , today entry is unhindered. About two kilometers further north one reached the Nike Missile Site NY-56 , 300 meters further the Leonardo Nike Missile Site NY-53 , today southern part of Guardian Park . Just north of it the former site administration, today the James J. Howard Marine Sciences Laboratory and Marine Academy of Science & Technology and the Housing Area . Over 100 individual structures, mostly one or two-family houses, are still in existence and inhabited from the military era. Further north of it was the Mortar Battery , further east was the Battery Gunnison sea defense system with the beach of the same name in front of it, which is now a nudist area. 40.4297 -73.98672

The longest-running lighthouse in the United States, Sandy Hook Lighthouse , has stood on the edge of the Housing Area since 1764 . Further north there were three positions: Battery Granger , Battery Potter and Nine Gun Battery . The 30 houses north of the water tower at the Crispin Road are after the conversion built the site.

The range of the first artillery was only 7 miles , it could be increased to 20 miles through innovation from 1919. There is an extensive system of tunnels under the various batteries , some of which can be visited. You can also visit some of the facilities of the soldiers and officers, such as the chapel, the cinema, in which music and theater is now presented, and the houses.

The area is best reached in summer when the Seastreak Ferry operates. New Jersey Transit operates a bus route that stops near the main entrance. Extensive parking spaces also allow individual travel by car.