Officers’ Row at Fort Hancock, Gateway National Recreation Area (2021)

Sandy Hook Unit Home Page

FORT HANCOCK WALKING TOUR

Tour Stop 25: Officers’ Row

Building Numbers 1-18
Construction Date: c. 1900

Officers’ Row is the name given to the ocean-front houses along Hartshorne Avenue at Fort Hancock. The National Park Service has attempted to lease these and other buildings in exchange for renovation ever since the park opened in 1975, but initially very little effort was made to do so. As a result, many of the buildings have deteriorated at an alarming rate, including the eighteen elegant houses situated along Sandy Hook Bay that were once the homes of Fort Hancock officers and their families. A few have been renovated by private individuals and companies, and one investor has submitted a proposal (2020) to renovate all remaining houses on Officers’ Row plus a few others, 21 buildings in all. However, the cost now (2025) exceeds any expected return on investment. The estimated cost to renovate the 21 buildings is roughly $100 million, and anything beyond $50 million is a bad investment. The Federal government would therefore have to subsidize the remaining $50 million, and this most likely will not sit well with the American taxpayers. See the Fort Hancock web page here on National Park Planner for more information about the leasing program.

I first visited Gateway National Recreation Area in 2015, not long after Hurricane Sandy and other storms had done a lot of damage to Officers’ Row at Fort Hancock. I was excited to return in 2021 and get updated photos because surely everything had been fixed, and my old photos were no longer valid. I was shocked to see that not only had very little been done since my first visit, but also that many of the buildings were in even worse shape.