Fort Mott was constructed in the late 1800s as a build up to the Spanish-American War, although nearby areas had been used in defense of the Delaware Bay for centuries (including nearby Red Bank). The fort was active for several decades until turned over to the NJ Parks Department. In the middle of the Delaware Bay, which officially begins a short distance north of this point, lies Pea Patch Island and Fort Delaware, which were used as a prisoner of war camp during the Civil War.
Fortification as seen from the bay side
Fort Delaware on Pea Patch Island, a Civil War era prison in the Delaware Bay
Fortifications from the land side
Moat behind the two main lines of fortifications
Finns Point Cemetary, Salem County, NJ
This land was purchased to help defend Philadelphia, but became a cemetery beginning in 1863 as the dead Confederate soldiers from Pea Patch Island began to be buried there. It is currently a national cementery, and contains the remains of Confederate POWs, Union guards, personal from nearby Fort Mott, Nazi POWs from WWII, and other servicemen and their families who chose to be buried there.
Monument to the hundreds of Confederate dead from the nearby prison camp
Rob with Nazis, which buried here when they died in prison here during WWII (the Nazis were buried, not Rob)
Finns Point Lighthouse, Salem County, NJ
This 94 foot tower was built in 1875 by the Army Corp of Engineers under Lieutenant Colonel William F. Raynolds. It operated from 1877 until 1933, and then again as an automated structure from 1934 until 1950, and was one of three that worked together (one to it's front which is now marshland, the other in Delaware) to help ships navigate the Delaware River.
More pictures from this adventure!
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