Sandy Hook

Coordinates: 40°27′10″N 73°59′43″W / 40.452891°N 73.995237°W / 40.452891; -73.995237

Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township,Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) in length and varying from 0.1 to 1.0 mile (0.16 to 1.61 km) wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern entrance of Lower New York Bay south of New York City, protecting it from the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The Dutch called the area "Sant Hoek", with the English "Hook" deriving from the Dutch "Hoek" (corner, angle), meaning "spit of land". Most of Sandy Hook is currently owned and managed by the National Park Service as the Sandy Hook Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area.

Description

Geologically, Sandy Hook is a large sand spit or barrier spit, the extension of a barrier peninsula along the coast of New Jersey, separated from the mainland by the estuary of the Shrewsbury River. On its western side, the peninsula encloses Sandy Hook Bay, a triangular arm of Raritan Bay. The 1,665-acre (6.74 km²) peninsula was discovered by Henry Hudson, and, historically, Sandy Hook has been a convenient anchorage for ships before proceeding into Upper New York Harbor.

Sandy Hook (disambiguation)

Sandy Hook is a barrier spit along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey

Sandy Hook may also refer to:

Places

Other uses

Sandy Hook, Connecticut

Sandy Hook is a village in the town of Newtown, Connecticut. Sandy Hook was founded in 1711.

It borders the Botsford section of town, Newtown borough, and also the towns of Monroe, Southbury and Oxford along the Housatonic River. The village of Sandy Hook includes the communities of Berkshire, Riverside, Walnut Tree Hill, and Zoar, which also extends for a short distance into the Town of Monroe along Old Zoar Road and Bagburn Hill/Jordan Hill Road.

History

Within a year of the settlement of Newtown, some of its proprietors began moving away from the central village to some of their larger parcels. Several proprietors with land in the same area relocated to these areas together to reduce isolation. Sandy Hook was one of the first of the outlying areas settled. Colonists found the Pootatuck River at Sandy Hook allowed for the setting up of saw and grist mills. The neighborhood would not grow dramatically until the industrialization of the mid 19th century.

2012 school shooting