Fort Hancock ~ They Were the Officer's Homes

I woke early enough today to try to catch the sunrise at Sandy Hook. It was so cold this morning that after awhile, my fingers couldn't press the shutter button. Time to head back to the car for warmth.

I drove a short way up the road, stopping here and there before I landed at the lighthouse which was constructed in 1764. Sandy Hook holds the title for having the nation's oldest lighthouse still in use. You can see it here


Sandy Hook has been the site of numerous fortifications since the American Revolution, and became the home of Fort Hancock in 1899, with the completion of the first thirty-four buildings, including eighteen Georgian Revival style homes for officers and their families. These homes and buildings fascinate me, and I often visit just to imagine what it might have been like for the families living here in the 1800's. It feels as if time has stopped there, and quite frankly, it has.

However, in it's day, Fort Hancock was armed with the most sophisticated weaponry of the day. In 1893 Battery Potter was completed, featuring the nation's first and only steam-lift gun battery. Each of two 12-inch guns fired a half-ton projectile with a range of seven miles through its 52-ton barrel. 1894 saw the completion of the first operational concrete batteries. Arranged in a square, the four concrete pits, each mounted with four 12-inch mortars, were interconnected by tunnels and ammo rooms, which later sheltered the New York Harbor Defense Command.

The historical area is under preservation and since it is a bird sanctuary, it is home to the NJ Audubon Society . It is also an active outpost of the United Sates Coast Guard.