Finns Point is a small

promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...

in Pennsville Township,

Salem County, New Jersey Salem County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its western boundary is formed by the Delaware River, and it has the eastern terminus of the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaw ...

, and

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three List of counties in Delaware, counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent County, Delaware, Kent, and Sussex County, Delaware, Sussex). As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, located at the southwest corner of the cape of Penns Neck, on the east bank of the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

near its mouth on

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States, lying between the states of Delaware and New Jersey. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltw ...

. Due to the wording of the original charter defining the boundaries of New Jersey and

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, part of the promontory is actually enclosed within the state of Delaware's border, due to tidal flow and the manner in which the borders between New Jersey and Delaware were first laid out. Therefore, this portion of Finns Point, also called The Baja, is an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of Delaware, cut off from the rest of the state by

. The area, the westernmost point in New Jersey, is about south of the city of Wilmington, and directly across the Delaware River from the New Castle area, and the Delaware River entrance to the

Chesapeake & Delaware Canal The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a -long, -wide and -deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States. In the mid-17th century, mapmaker Augus ...

Pea Patch Island Fort Delaware State Park is a , Delaware state park on Pea Patch Island in the mid channel of the Delaware River near its entrance into Delaware Bay. It is a low, marshy island in New Castle County, Delaware, facing Delaware City on the Dela ...

, part of the state of Delaware, sits in the channel of the river facing the promontory. The area in Delaware was previously protected as Killcohook National Wildlife Refuge but is now a confined disposal facility used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

17th century

At the time of European colonization in the 17th century the

was known as the South River and the

Salem River The Salem River is a tributary of the Delaware River in southwestern New Jersey in the United States. The course and watershed of the Salem River are entirely within Salem County. Tributaries of the Salem include Game Creek, Mannington Cr ...

was known as Varkens Kill, or Hogg Creek. Tradition holds that a settlement was first planted by

Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...

as part of the colony of

New Sweden New Sweden () was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a g ...

in 1638. among them, the family of Anders Sinicka, whose surname has many variations. This is recalled in the name of the road running along the shore south of the Port of Salem, Sinnicksons Landing Road. which bears the name of the a prominent Salem County family, including Thomas Sinnickson and his descendants. In 1641, a group of 60 settlers (20 families) from the

New Haven Colony New Haven Colony was an English colony from 1638 to 1664 that included settlements on the north shore of Long Island Sound, with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The colony joined Connecticut Colony in 16 ...

(in today's Connecticut) purchased land along the

kill Kill often refers to: *Homicide, one human killing another *cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death Other common uses include: *Kill (body of water), a body of water, most commonly a creek *Kill (command), a computing command *K ...

. In 1643, the Governor of New Sweden built

Fort Nya Elfsborg Fort Nya Elfsborg was a fortification and settlement established as a part of New Sweden. Built in 1643 and named after the Älvsborg Fortress off Gothenburg, Fort Nya Elfsborg was located on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River, between p ...

, just east of present-day

Salem, New Jersey Salem is a city in and the county seat of Salem County,New Jersey County Map

, and allowed the Varkens Kill settlement to remain if they swore allegiance to Sweden. In 1651,

Fort Casimir Fort Casimir or Fort Trinity was a Dutch fort in the seventeenth-century colony of New Netherland. It was located on a no-longer existing barrier island at the end of Chestnut Street in what is now New Castle, Delaware. Background The Dutch c ...

was constructed directly across the river on the west bank of the Delaware and by 1655, the region came under the control of

New Netherland New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

, which it remained until 1664 when the English overran the settlements on the south banks of the Delaware. The peninsula on the east banks became

West Jersey West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often ...

. The town at Salem was founded in 1675 by John Fenwick, a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

.Clement, John (1875). ''A sketch of the life and character of John Fenwick''. Published by Friends Historical Association. Philadelphia: Henry S. VolkmarShourds, Thomas (1876). "John Fenwick." ''History and genealogy of Fenwick's Colony, New Jersey''. Bridgeton, New Jersey, pp. 3-17

Military facilities

The promontory is the location of

Finns Point National Cemetery Finn's Point National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Pennsville Township, New Jersey, Pennsville Township, Salem County, New Jersey, Salem County, New Jersey, United States. It encompasses , and as of February 2009, ha ...

, a military cemetery used in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

for Union and

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

soldiers who died while at

Fort Delaware Fort Delaware is a former harbor defense facility, designed by chief engineer Joseph Gilbert Totten and located on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River.Dobbs, Kelli W., et al. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), the Union / Unite ...

on Pea Patch Island. It was also the location of Fort Mott, constructed after the Civil War and used up through

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to protect the

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname), a surname of French origin * Du Pont family, one of the wealthiest families in the United States Companies * DuPont, one of the world's largest chemical compani ...

facilities upriver at

Carneys Point Township, New Jersey Carneys Point Township is a township in Salem County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 8,637, an increase of 588 (+7.3%) from the 2010 census count of 8,049, which in turn r ...

, as well as the port of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. The fort is now part of

Fort Mott State Park Fort Mott, located in Pennsville, Salem County, New Jersey, United States, was part of the Harbor Defenses of the Delaware, a three-fort defense system designed for the Delaware River during the Reconstruction era and Endicott program moderniz ...

References

External links

Finnish place name origins

Channel 6 Action News (Philadelphia) Special Report on Finns Point

Finnish American History (in Finnish)
{{Authority control 17th-century establishments in New Sweden Borders of Delaware Borders of New Jersey Exclaves in the United States Finnish-American culture in New Jersey Finnish-American history Headlands of New Jersey Landforms of New Castle County, Delaware Landforms of Salem County, New Jersey New Sweden Peninsulas of New Jersey Pennsville Township, New Jersey Swedish-American history Swedish American culture in New Jersey

17th century

Military facilities

See also

References

External links