Sandy Hook Proving Ground
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sandy Hook Proving Ground was a military facility, formally established by the Secretary of War on August 7, 1874, to serve as the United States Army's first proving ground for the testing of ordnance and materiel. The facility was located at Sandy Hook, a narrow coastal spit of land, approximately 6 miles in length and 0.5 miles (varying between .10 and 1 miles) wide, in Middletown Township in Monmouth County, along the Atlantic coast of eastern New Jersey. The facility was operated in conjunction with the adjoining Fort Hancock.
The Sandy Hook Peninsula met the army's needs for an experimental testing area for heavy ordnance and was on land that was already government owned. The Sandy Hook Proving Ground continued its operations as a weapons test site until 1920.
