Also its location at the entrance to New York Harbor assured Sandy Hook’s importance for coast and harbor defense. For more than 200 years, since the American Revolution, most of the peninsula has been a federal reserve. We were surprised to find old Fort Hancock here at the site of the lighthouse. It was quite interesting and we spent a couple of hours there.
There were numerous very old fortification batteries here. The first of these were built in the early 1800’s. Four mortars occupied each pit with 12 other mortars in nearby pits they were designed to fire simultaneously firing 12 inch 800 pound shells in high arches to penetrate ships in the harbor thus protecting NYC. These gun batteries, reinforced with concrete and protected by tons of earth and sand and then camouflaged by dunes and bushes, made it possible to protect the harbor with a much smaller and concealed area than a typical fort. This picture, taken from information on the site shows how they were built.