Officer's Row

Houses along "Officer's Row" at Fort Hancock on Sandy Hook. Married Army officers lived in the 18 homes along "Officers Row" facing Sandy Hook Bay. The Gateway National Recreation Area, including Sandy Hook, was created by Congress 40 years ago in 1972.

The original 1896 plan consisted of 32 buff brick buildings that included officers quarters, barracks, a Bachelor Officers' Quarters, post headquarters, hospital, guardhouse, quartermaster storehouse, and bakery. The heavier, more costly buff colored brick was chosen because it was less porous than traditional red brick. The foundations were either stone or brick and the roofs were slate. The most impressive of the buildings were the 18 homes on "Officers' Row." For these, Murray wanted a simple style not "lacking in beauty." For simplicity and to reduce maintenance, they were without gingerbread work. The four barracks, built across the parade ground from Officers' Row, would have "handsome and massive porches."


Fort Hancock is a former United States Army fort at Sandy Hook, located in Middletown Township in Monmouth County, along the Atlantic coast of eastern New Jersey in the United States. This coastal artillery base played an important part in the defense of New York Harbor and played a role in the history of New Jersey. Between 1874 and 1919, Fort Hancock was operated in conjunction with the Army's Sandy Hook Proving Ground.

In 1893, Fort Hancock installed Battery Potter, the nation's first disappearing gun battery. It also was important for the defense of the vital New York Harbor throughout World War II, preventing the entrance of German submarines into the harbor. In the late 1950s Project Nike antiaircraft missiles were based there. Fort Hancock was decommissioned in 1974.

The fort and its small museum are managed as part of the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, and is part of National Parks of New York Harbor unit of the National Park System.