Those looking to get outside and enjoy the weather will find an extra dose of history this spring in the Rocky Point section of Hartshorne Woods Park, Highlands. The WWII era Battery Lewis has a new permanent walk-through exhibit inside the subterranean installment, which once housed two 16-inch guns that helped protect New York Harbor.
Battery Lewis will have an Open House on Saturday, May 19 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The Dedication Ceremony originally scheduled for this date has been postponed due to inclement weather until Saturday, June 16 at 10 a.m. The exhibit will remain open Thursday-Sunday, May 24 through October from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The exhibit features interpretive panels, replica shells, and an impressive a 16-inch gun barrel mounted on a concrete pedestal to give visitors a sense of size and space. The barrel on display at the park was mounted on the USS New Jersey during WWII.
The Army constructed the Navesink Military Reservation in 1942 as part of the Modernization Program for the Harbor Defenses of the Continental U.S. While Battery Lewis is the only 16-inch gun battery in the state of New Jersey, similar batteries can be found, in varying conditions, in many coastal areas throughout the United States; from Battery Townsley in Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco to Battery Harris at Fort Tilton, New York. The Navesink Military Reservation was listed as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.
For more information about military history in the park visit the
Hartshorne Woods Park page.
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