• Get away to Gateway, where you can camp and stay healthy with heart-smart activities. Photo by Sebastiano Privitera; used by permission.

    Gateway

    National Recreation Area NY,NJ

History & Culture

Army soldier Joseph Tancos camping at Fort Hancock, 1941.

Army soldier Joseph Tancos camping at Fort Hancock, 1941.

NPS ARCHIVES

Gateway: an expansive park with a diverse history

Gateway National Recreation Area's three park units all trace the rich history of the nation and harbor. Historic forts, former airports, recreation areas and America's oldest operating lighthouse tell fascinating stories of defense, aviation firsts, navigational safety and healthy living.

Access Historic Structures and Cultural Landscape Reports about diverse areas within Gateway.

View podcasts about our historic sites.

Learn how Fort Hancock's Battery Potter worked.

Explore Fort Hancock's Battery Gunnison.

Read World War II-era Army histories of Fort Wadsworth (1945) and the New York-Philadelphia Coastal Artillery system (1944). These files are very large and take awhile to download. A 1944 Army map of Fort Hancock aids in the visualization of what was once a base with over 10,000 soldiers and what is now part of Gateway's Sandy Hook Unit.

Study 1935 Army maps of all the forts which are now part of Gateway: Hancock, Wadsworth, Tilden and Totten.

volunteers in Hangar B

HARP Volunteers working at Hangar B.

NPS Photo

Historic Aircraft at Hangar B, Floyd Bennett Field


Hangar B is the home to Floyd Bennett Field's Historic Aircraft Restoration Project (HARP). Visitors to the hangar can see dedicated Volunteers-In-Parks working on the park's collection of historic aircraft. Many of the volunteers come to the project with decades of experience working on planes, either in the military, or in the civil sector, or both. The goal is to return these aircraft to nearly original condition.

HARP volunteers are also building a full scale model of Wiley Post's Lockheed Vega, "The Winnie Mae" from scratch! The volunteers and park rangers are available to lead tours of the hangar and planes, and are more than happy to answer any questions.

What makes a visit to Hangar B unique is that visitors can see, hear, and feel what it is like to be in a working airplane hangar. It is easy to imagine that is 1945, or 1965 during a visit to Hangar B.

Hangar B is open to the public Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 9 AM to 4:30 PM., and for guided tours Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, from 2 PM to 3 PM. For group tours, call 718-338-3799.
 
Visitors studying exhibits in Sandy Hook Lighthouse Keepers Quarters

Visitors studying exhibits in the Sandy Hook Lighthouse Keepers Quarters.

NPS Photo

Sandy Hook Light and Keepers Quarters

In June 2006, the historic Sandy Hook Lighthouse Keepers Quarters opened as a visitor contact station for tours of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, America's oldest light. The $650,000 rehabilitation of the Keepers Quarters was funded by the park's Friends Group, the Sandy Hook Foundation. The main floor has exhibits on New Jersey lighthouses, while the upper floors are offices and lodging for the Foundation and the New Jersey Lighthouse Society, the volunteer group that conducts Lighthouse tours for the NPS. Click here for Hours of Operation.

 
 
  • From Rodman Guns to Radar From Rodman Guns to Radar

    Gateway's military history includes Civil War-era forts as well as radar and nuclear missile sites. Read More

  • Fort Wadsworth, Guardian of the Narrows Fort Wadsworth, Guardian of the Narrows

    For two centuries, this Staten Island fort overlooked the Narrows, protecting New York Harbor from invasion by sea. Although Fort Wadsworth is now part of the National Park Service, the U.S. Coast Guard and Army Reserve still serve here. Read More

  • Jacob Riis Park Jacob Riis Park

    Jacob Riis Park has a long history as a recreation destination for generations of New Yorkers. Find out why. Read More

  • Sandy Hook oral history interviews Sandy Hook oral history interviews

    History is more than what is in the textbooks. Read our oral histories to see how veterans and family members remember life at Fort Hancock from the days before World War I to the age of Nike nuclear missiles. Read More

Did You Know?

Dimmed and camoflagued Sandy Hook lighthouse at night in World War II.

Did you know that the Sandy Hook Light was dimmed in World War II and painted in camoflague? Homes and businesses within five miles of the ocean were required to use blackout curtains in order to protect ships from attacks by German U-Boats. More...