Fort Hancock (New Jersey) facts for kids

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Fort Hancock and the Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark District

Fort Hancock Memorial Park
Location in Monmouth County, New Jersey
Location	Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Built	1857 (Fort at Sandy Hook) 1874 (proving ground) 1890 (Fort Hancock)
Architect	Capt. Robert E. Lee, United States Army Corps of Engineers
Architectural style	Third System (1857 fort), Endicott Program (Fort Hancock)
NRHP reference No.	80002505
Added to NRHP	April 24, 1980
Designated NHLD	December 17, 1982

Fort Hancock is an old United States Army fort located on Sandy Hook in New Jersey. This fort was a key part of defending the Atlantic coast and the entrance to New York Harbor. Its first big guns were ready in 1896.

The fort was active from 1896 until 1950, protecting New York. From 1874 to 1919, the nearby Sandy Hook Proving Ground tested weapons for the army. Today, Fort Hancock is a memorial park. Before Fort Hancock, there was an older fort built between 1857 and 1867.

The Sandy Hook Light, a lighthouse built in 1764, is also on the grounds of Fort Hancock. It is the oldest working lighthouse in the United States.

History of Fort Hancock
Fort Hancock Today
- What You Can See Today
Images for kids
See also

History of Fort Hancock

The First Fort at Sandy Hook

The Sandy Hook area was first fortified to protect the coast in the mid-1800s. Construction on the first fort, called the Fort at Sandy Hook, started in 1857. Work stopped in 1867, and the fort was never fully finished. It didn't have an official name, but people sometimes called it Fort Lincoln or Fort Hudson.

Captain Robert E. Lee helped design this fort. It was planned to be a large, five-sided fort with many cannons. These cannons would be placed on two levels to protect against ships. The fort was mostly built from granite.

After the American Civil War, military leaders realized that stone forts could be easily damaged by new, powerful cannons. Because of this, funding for building these forts stopped in 1867. The unfinished fort was later taken apart starting in 1885. Its materials were used to build the new Fort Hancock and other structures. Only a small piece of one wall with four cannon openings remains today.

Building Fort Hancock

In 1874, the Sandy Hook Proving Ground was created nearby. This was a special place to test new weapons, especially big guns for coastal defense. It was run by the Army's Ordnance Department, separate from the fort itself.

In 1890, construction began on the new artillery batteries for Fort Hancock. The fort was named in 1895 after Major General Winfield Scott Hancock. These new defenses were part of a big plan called the "Endicott Program." This program aimed to build a strong system of forts to protect important port cities. Fort Hancock was one of the first forts built with these new designs.

Battery Potter: A Unique Gun

A drawing of Battery Potter's unique gun lift system.

The entrance to Battery Potter today.

Battery Potter was a special test battery. It used a "gun lift carriage" system. Most new forts used "disappearing guns." These guns would hide behind a concrete wall, then pop up to fire, and then lower back down to reload safely.

However, engineers weren't sure if disappearing carriages could lift the heaviest 12-inch guns. So, Battery Potter used a different idea: a gun on a hydraulic elevator. A steam engine powered this elevator. This allowed the gun to fire in any direction, which was a big advantage.

Battery Potter got its first 12-inch gun in 1892. It was finished in 1894 but wasn't officially ready until 1898. The gun lift system was expensive to build and run because the steam engine had to be on all the time. Battery Potter was the only gun lift battery ever completed. It was named after Joseph H. Potter in 1903. By 1907, it was no longer needed and its guns were removed.

Battery Reynolds: Mortar Pits

This picture shows a mortar pit with four mortars and many soldiers.

Battery Reynolds (later partly renamed Battery McCook) had sixteen 12-inch mortars. These were arranged in a special way called "Abbot Quad." The idea was to put the mortars very close together in four pits, with four mortars in each pit. The goal was to fire them all at once to hit enemy ships.

The pits were separated by concrete walls that held ammunition. The whole battery was surrounded by a high wall for defense. However, reloading four mortars in such a tight space was difficult. Later, some mortars were moved to another location. Newer designs for mortar batteries spread the mortars out more.

Many Guns and Defenses

By 1909, Fort Hancock had many different types of gun batteries. These included:

Dynamite Guns: These were special guns that fired projectiles filled with dynamite. They had a bigger explosion than regular guns but were hard to aim. They were removed by 1902.
Large Guns: Batteries like Alexander, Bloomfield, Richardson, Halleck, and Granger had powerful 10-inch and 12-inch guns. Many of these were on disappearing carriages.
Smaller Guns: Batteries like Peck, Gunnison, Engle, Urmston, and Morris had 3-inch, 5-inch, and 6-inch guns. These smaller guns were often used to protect underwater minefields from enemy ships.

The fort also had facilities to place and control underwater minefields. These mines would explode if enemy ships tried to enter the harbor.

Fort Hancock in World War I

When the United States entered World War I, some changes happened at Fort Hancock. The army needed heavy guns for the war in Europe. One 10-inch gun from Battery Halleck was taken to be used as a railway gun. Other guns were considered for removal but stayed at the fort.

Battery Engle's 5-inch gun was removed to be used as a field gun and never returned. In 1917, four mortars from Battery Reynolds-McCook were moved to a nearby military reservation. Also, two new 12-inch gun batteries, Battery Kingman and Battery Mills, were started. These had long-range guns and were finished in 1921.

Between the World Wars

After World War I, more changes came to Fort Hancock. The Sandy Hook Proving Ground moved to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Many older guns, including the 8-inch guns of Battery Arrowsmith and all the mortars from Battery Reynolds-McCook, were removed.

The new long-range 12-inch guns at Fort Hancock, along with very large 16-inch guns at Fort Tilden, became the main defenses for New York. The older guns stayed in place until World War II. From 1919 until the 1930s, Fort Hancock was mostly in "caretaker status," meaning it had fewer soldiers and was less active.

Fort Hancock in World War II

In 1940–41, Fort Hancock became a busy place. It was used as a training center for soldiers, with many temporary buildings and even a tent city. With the new powerful guns protecting New York, many of Fort Hancock's older guns were removed and scrapped between 1942 and 1943.

In 1943, a special post was built on the old Battery Potter to control ships entering the harbor. Battery Gunnison was also rebuilt to hold 6-inch guns from Battery Peck. This new setup was sometimes called Battery New Peck. Two "Anti-Motor Torpedo Boat" (AMTB) batteries were also set up. These had 90mm guns to defend against small, fast enemy boats.

The Cold War Era

After World War II, in 1946, military leaders decided that traditional gun defenses were no longer useful. Fort Hancock's guns were all scrapped. The fort was officially closed in 1950.

However, it reopened a year later as a base for 90mm and 120mm anti-aircraft guns. These were some of the first defenses in the United States during the Cold War. The fort closed again in 1953 but reopened in 1956 as a Nike missile base (called site NY-56). Nike missiles were used to shoot down enemy aircraft. This missile base operated until 1974, when the Nike missile system was shut down across the country.

After the Cold War

Hurricane Sandy caused damage to some buildings at Fort Hancock in 2012. In 2018, the National Park Service decided to tear down two of these damaged buildings.

Fort Hancock Today

Fort Hancock stopped being an active U.S. Army base in 1974. Now, it is part of the National Parks of New York Harbor, managed by the National Park System. There is a museum at the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area.

In 2013, Nubian goats were brought to the fort. Their job was to eat the poison ivy that had been growing for about 40 years. This helped clear the land naturally.

A group called the 21st Century Federal Advisory Committee was formed in 2012. This group advises the National Park Service on how to use the fort's empty buildings. Some buildings are now being leased or planned for new uses. The Park Service is also working to repair structures damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

What You Can See Today

You can see several historic items at the fort today:

A 20-inch Rodman gun, which was the biggest gun made during the Civil War era.
A 10-inch Rodman gun.
Several Nike missiles.
Two rare 6-inch M1900 guns at Battery New Peck, also known as Battery Gunnison. These guns were made in 1903 and are the only ones that weren't scrapped after World War II.

Battery Gunnison has been undergoing a restoration since 2003 by the Army Ground Forces Association. This group of living historians has brought the battery back to how it looked in 1943. They offer special programs throughout the year.

Fort Hancock has one of the largest collections of old "Endicott" batteries. This includes experimental batteries from the old proving ground. You can still see the dynamite gun battery and the test battery for the 14-inch guns. Many of the original buildings where soldiers lived also still stand.

The Nike Site NY-56 is one of the few Nike missile bases left in the country where both the launch area and the radar site are still mostly intact. The radar site is being restored by veterans who served at Fort Hancock during the Cold War.