Fort Hancock Days 2009

Visit History House at Sandy Hook and learn about the 1940s life of Fort Hancock.

NPS Photo CJ Gutch

News Release Date: October 13, 2009

Contact: Dan Meharg, 732-872‑5970

The Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area will hold Fort Hancock Days on Saturday evening, October 24 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and on Sunday, October 25 from noon to 4 p.m. to commemorate the anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Army facility on Sandy Hook in 1895.

Highlights:

Saturday, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Battery Gunnison at Night: Volunteer Living Historians from the Army Ground Forces Association will be uniformed as World War II era coast artillery solders.  

Sunday, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Tours of Battery Gunnison, conducted by members of the Army Ground Forces Association. Demonstrations  on how the big 6-inch guns were fired. Their restoration of the gun battery focuses on the vital roll the U.S. Army’s Coast Artillery played in defending major U.S. harbors and coastlines during World War II. 

Walking tours of the Fort Hancock historic district, include tours inside buildings that are not normally open to the public. Tours start at the Museum and end at History House with refreshments.

History House, a restored home along Officers Row that contains period furnishings from the 1940s.

The 102^nd Cavalry, a World War II re-enactment group, will have a display set up adjacent to History House.  A World War II Jeep will also be on display.

Battery Potter and the Fort Hancock Nike Missile Radar Site will both be open for tours. 

Jr. Ranger Air Defenders at 2 PM, provides children ages 7-12 with a tour of the Nike Radar site and then the opportunity to build a Nike Missile of their own. The activity culminates with targeting and firing a rocket at a kite the Nike Missileman way. Program is by reservation only: call 732-872-5970

The Sandy Hook Lighthouse and Keepers Quarters will be open from noon until 5 p.m. Lighthouse tours are first-come, first-served, and children must be 48 inches tall to climb the tower. 

Information on the park and a calendar of fall programs is available at the Sandy Hook Visitor Center, open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Visitor Center can be reached at 732-872‑5970.

Sandy Hook is located off Route 36, twelve miles east of Garden State Parkway Exit 117.