This image shows several of the buildings at Fort Hancock. And in back of the buildings is the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. So there are several levels of history here.
As mentioned in the previous post, the first fort was built on Sandy Hook during the War of 1812. Fort Hancock was established in 1899 and was decommissioned in 1974. These days the buildings are used as museums, oceanographical research labs, the aforementioned Sandy Hook Bird Observatory, support buildings for the park, and some of the officers quarters are used as homes.
The lighthouse at Sandy Hook was built in 1764 and has been in continuous operation since. It is the oldest operating lighthouse in the United States.
And there is a bit of personal history here as well (in addition to that mentioned in the prior post). My father was in the army during the Korean War. And he had the "misfortune" to be stationed at Cape Cod and here at Fort Hancock. I suppose there are worse places to spend a war.
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