Gateway National Recreation Area - Fort Hancock (U.S. National Park Service)

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Gateway National Recreation Area

Subway crossing Jamaica Bay in the beautiful Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.

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	Gateway National Recreation Area Fort Hancock

Soldiers pose with 12 inch gun that shot 1,080 pound projectiles.

NPS/Gateway NRA

Soldiers of the 245th Coast Artillery pose with the 12 inch gun at Battery Kingman, c. 1943

Fort Hancock, named in 1895 for General Winfield Scott Hancock, protected New York Harbor until 1974. It was a U.S. Army Coast Artillery Post.

The first weapons of Fort Hancock included disappearing guns and the last were Nike Missiles.

For more details on Fort Hancock, click here.

Fort Hancock is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark.

View the Fort Hancock and Sandy Hook Proving Ground Historic District National Landmark Nomination.

View the Fort Hancock Historic Resource Study 1895-1948.

View the Fort Hancock Historic Resource Study 1948-1974.

An early view of the Fort Hancock Parade Ground, c 1900.

NPS/Gateway NRA Museum Collection

An early view of the Fort Hancock Parade Ground, c. 1900. Note Officers' Row originally had shutters.

Sandy Hook Maritime History

Sandy Hook Maritime
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Sandy Hook Proving Ground Proof Battery

Sandy Hook Proving Ground
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View soldiers stories in their own words.

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			Did You Know? Journalist Jacob Riis was called "New York's most useful citizen," by Theodore Roosevelt. As police commissioner, Roosevelt often accompanied Riis in raids exposing the hardship of life for New York City's poor and immigrant populations.

Last Updated: November 16, 2009 at 10:04 EST