Above photo: May 10, 1937 photo of the Sandy Hook Lighthouse at Fort Hancock. Photo courtesy Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress. Right: Beaches at Gateway National Recreation Area. Source: National Park Service.

Gateway Then

Sandy Hook Lighthouse - It was built by the Colony of New York in 1764, assisting ships to navigate into New York harbor, but it has remained with a military implication because of its proximity to the city from those days of British rule, which lasted the entire American Revolution till its end in 1783, through the nuclear age.

Fort Hancock - Fortifications had been built around the lighthouse after the American Revolution for the War of 1812. Afterward, it would be known as the Fort at Sandy Hook with an official renaming to Fort Hancock in 1895. During World War II, seven thousand soldiers would man the fort. By 1954, Nike surface to air nuclear missiles were housed here. They would remain for twenty years until the fort was decommissioned.

Floyd Bennett Field - Opened on May 23, 1931 as New York's first municipal airport. It would only last for eight years in that capacity before purchase by the U.S. Navy as Naval Air Station - New York. During World War II, it was the busiest Naval Air Station in the nation.

Photo above: Fort Hancock guardhouse in 1940. Courtesy National Park Service. Photo below: Tour group outside the Sandy Hook lighthouse. Source: National Park Service.

Gateway Now

So when did all this Gateway NRA stuff start? - Well, the park was authorized by Congress in 1972 and now includes the remnants of those forts, some of which are still pretty much intact, and undergoing adaptive uses. There's the art deco bathhouse and boardwalk at Jacob Riis Park; bathhouse has exhibits inside, plus opportunities to camp, fish, beach watch, bird watch, bike, and hike, all within the confines of the city, as well as in its neighbor New Jersey.

The three units of the park offer such a variety of exploits, it's hard to imagine how close you are to twelve million people or that there's so much recreation and history amongst it. That's one surprise about a National Recreation Area before you go; that despite it's designation, you're gonna have the opportunity to have fun, plus learn. The Jamaica Bay section includes a fort; Fort Tilden, an airport; Floyd Bennett, plus the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. And that's not trying to discount the beach and all those fishing, bathing, boating, and hiking opportunities there. At Staten Island, there's the seasonal swim beach and places to hike, bike, or fish, plus Fort Wadsworth beneath the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Sandy Hook, on the New Jersey side, has miles of beaches waiting for your pleasure, but so much history within the buildings and lighthouse of Fort Hancock that it might even lure you off the coast into a history tour. Okay, maybe just some of you.

Fort Hancock - One hundred buildings remain of the fort, some of which are currently in use, with others under proposal for further use and renovation, which is desperately needed on some that date back to the late 1800s. The first lease for renovation was signed in May 2016; Building 21 on Officer's Row will be used as a seasonal rental. The parade ground is still there, as well as the location for those Nike missiles.