Camp Hero State Park is a

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "Federated state, state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on accou ...

located on

Montauk Point Montauk ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in East Hampton and Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 4,318. The CDP encomp ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. The park occupies a portion of the former

Montauk Air Force Station Montauk Air Force Station was a US military base at Montauk, New York, Montauk Point on the eastern tip of Long Island, New York (state), New York. It was decommissioned in 1981 and is now owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation ...

History

Military use

The site known as Camp Hero, or the Montauk Air Force Station, was initially commissioned by the U.S. Army in 1942. Camp Hero was initially a coastal defense station disguised as a fishing village, and its location was chosen to prevent a potential invasion of New York from the sea. Camp Hero was named after Major General Andrew Hero, Jr., the Army's commander of coastal artillery, who died in 1942. Three gun batteries were built at Camp Hero, replacing most of the other heavy guns in the

Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound The Harbor Defenses of Long Island Sound was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps Harbor Defense Command, harbor defense command. It coordinated the coastal defence and fortification, coast defenses of Long Island Sound and Connecticut from ...

, which also included

Fort H. G. Wright Fort H. G. Wright was a United States military installation on Fishers Island in the town of Southold, New York, just two miles off the coast of southeastern Connecticut, but technically in New York. It was part of the Harbor Defenses of Long Isl ...

, Fort Michie, and

Fort Terry Fort Terry was a coastal fortification on Plum Island, a small island just off Orient Point, New York, United States. This strategic position afforded it a commanding view over the Atlantic entrance to the commercially vital Long Island Sound. ...

. Two batteries of two 16-inch guns each were built, Batteries 112 and 113 (officially named Battery Dunn).Berhow, p. 208 Another battery of two 6-inch guns was also built, Battery 216. All three batteries consisted mainly of a large concrete bunker covered with earth, containing ammunition magazines and

fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

equipment. The 16-inch guns were protected by large

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...

s, and the 6-inch guns by shields. In 1992, Preston Nichols and Peter Moon wrote '' The Montauk Project: Experiments in Time'', in which they alleged that secret experiments was carried out at the Camp Hero site. The book was popular with

conspiracy theorists A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

and spawned several sequels.

Post-military use

In 1984, the

General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. G ...

attempted to sell the entire facility to real estate developers. Local

environmental activists The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

protested, claiming that the site had many unique

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

and animal habitats. The remaining portions of the military reservation at Montauk were decommissioned. Most of the facility, including Camp Hero, was donated to the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

, which then turned it over to the

New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYS OPRHP) is a state agency within the New York State Executive Department Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law § 3.03. "The office of parks, recreation and h ...

. Portions not deemed environmentally sensitive were sold off. Camp Hero remained largely undeveloped through the 1980s and 1990s. In 1996, a feasibility study was undertaken to develop the site into a golf course. However, environmentalists were concerned that the golf course would impact rare species of plants and endangered wildlife such as the

blue-spotted salamander The blue-spotted salamander (''Ambystoma laterale'') is a mole salamander native to the Great Lakes states and northeastern United States, and parts of Ontario and Quebec in Canada. Their range is known to extend to James Bay to the north, and ...

and eastern tiger salamander, and that irrigation would deplete limited sources of groundwater on the peninsula. Although there was a demand to create new golf courses on Long Island, particularly on the East End, the idea of creating a new golf course in Montauk in addition to Montauk Downs State Park was dropped in 1999. Camp Hero State Park was opened on September 18, 2002. There are plans to create a museum and an interpretive center that will focus on

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

history inside the radar tower. Some parts of the camp remained closed off and guarded, especially the areas near the old radar installations.

Park description

Camp Hero State Park offers picnic areas, a beach, and trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing. It is a popular surf

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

beach due to the underwater structure that tends to hold fish. Common game fish found in this area are

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...

and

bluefish The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...

. Portions of the former military installation within the park are registered as a National Historic Site.

References

* *

External links

New York State Parks: Camp Hero State Park

List of all US coastal forts and batteries
at the Coast Defense Study Group, Inc. website
FortWiki, lists most CONUS and Canadian fortsCamp Hero history site archive
{{authority control State parks of New York (state)

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...