Fort Hancock is probably one of the coolest military installations I have ever gotten to explore. The beach is a nice little getaway but to me, the real beauty lies off the beaten path and behind the wire fences.
I grew up there, learned to surf there and was so glad I left. As kids we would sneak into the Nike Missile complexes here and in Holmdel. If you grew up during the Cold War you were lucky, the most fun a kid could have in America.
Gotta love the government. They just up and walk away, leaving, dangerous structures, and toxic, contaminated items, and soil when they’re done with no intention of returning it to how it was before. It is neat to see it all though, and imagine all the soldiers defending our nation.
My dad served at Ft. Hancock in WWII, had some great stories of his time there. He worked on searchlights and Radar when Radar was so top secret he couldn't mention the word in public. The guys he worked with had so much fun that I suspect they were disappointed when the War ended and they had to go back to their boring civilian lives. Ray Wood Son of Tech SGT Ermon H. Wood
The place she said was a shooting range is an active shooting range. As you look towards the targets and see the treeline behind it i was on the other side or that treeline while the rangers were having there target practice...kept low and moved fast to the beach so i wouldn't get my.head blown off
Very cool. The area at 5:18 was the launch site for Nike missiles (the ones sitting on display along the road). They were nuclear tipped. There are underground magazines with long elevators that were used to bring the missiles up to be launched. The small fenced area at 6:10 was the kennel for the guard dogs. I got in there about 5 or 6 years ago and the kennels were filled with Civil Defense rations. There's still a lot more to see at this site. Next time you're in the NYC area, check out Fort Tilden, Fort Totten, Floyd Bennet Field and if you have a lot of time on your hands, Camp Hero.
The best part about ft hancock is the underground tunnels, hard to get to, but totally worth it. At time mark 14:57 you climb that railing and take those stairs all the way up to the right, it takes you into the actual fort and the underground passage ways.
First time there? I live 10 min from SH. Those large guns from the battery you are in raised up & down by steam. From shot fired , to reload raised & re-fired was about 1.5 minutes. don,t let the park police catch you in any of those old buildings. They love to give out tickets resulting in fines.
