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        Fort Hancock

Located in the  Sandy Hook New Jersey Gateway National Recreation Area is maintained by the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Sandy Hook's Military History dates back to the Revolutionary  War

During the Revolutionary War, the Hook was occupied by the British and Loyalist Troops. A temporary Fort was built during the war of 1812 and in 1859 construction began on a permanent Fort.

This Granite Fort was never completed because new technologies made it obsolete. From 1874 through 1919, the Army operated the sandy Hook Proving Ground as a place to test it's new weapons.

In 1890, the first of many concrete gun batteries was built along the Sandy Hook shoreline. In 1895, the U.S.Army established Fort Hancock to man these guns and protect New York Harbor shipping channels from attack by sea. The concrete batteries were designed to be invisible from the sea. There guns ranged in size from 3 to 12 inch caliber. Many were "disappearing" guns that were loaded from behind a protective wall. lifted to be fired, and then returned to safety behind the wall.

The first guns reached 10 miles, by 1919, the range was 20 miles. Airplanes changed the style of warfare forever, and by the end of World War II antiaircraft guns had taken over the key defensive roll at Fort Hancock. During the Cold war Era, Antiaircraft guns were replaced by Nike Missiles that could intercept jet warplanes. With the development of  Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) in the 1960's Nike Missiles became obsolete, and Fort Hancock was deactivated in 1974.

Fort Hancock's mission was to provide support for the soldiers manning the Sandy Hook gun batteries. The original fort, designed to garrison 400 men, consisted of 32 buff brick structures built around a parade ground. Construction of these first buildings began in 1898, with more added in the years that followed.

The buildings at Fort Hancock contained facilities to sustain a town. Single enlisted men were housed in the barracks while married NCOs and officers lived with their families in the quarters designed for this use. By 1911, the Fort had a commissary, post exchange, bakery, library, school, YMCA, laundry and tailor shops for soldiers and dependants.

Colonial Revival architecture became  popular at the time of the American centennial in 1876. It was a rebirth of the Georgian and Federal designs typical of the Revolutionary War Era. The style was also a rejection of the Victorian use of excessive ornamentation. Typical features in the Revival style included Palladian and elliptical windows, glazed transoms, dormers, bold denticulated cornices, decorative pilasters and columns.

Captain Arthur Murray was responsible for conceiving the overall layout and architectural look for the post. Murray sought advisers for his drawings from his friends, New York architects, John M. Carray and Thomas Hastings.

The original 1896 plan consisted of 32 buff brick buildings that included officers quarters, barracks, a Bachelor Officers Quarters, post headquarters, hospital, guardhouse, quartermaster storehouse, and bakery. The heavier, more costly buff colored brick was chosen because it was less porous than the traditional red brick. The foundations were either stone or brick and the roofs were slate. The most impressive of the buildings were the 18 homes on "Officers Row". For these, Murray wanted a simple style not "lacking in beauty." For simplicity and to reduce maintenance, they were without gingerbread work. The four barracks, built  across the parade ground from Officers Row, would have "handsome and massive porches.

Today Fort Hancock is administered by the National Park Service as part of the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area.

This Historical article taken from the National Park Service 

All Rights Reserved @ The National Park Service.

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