Chiropractor in Sandy Hook, NJ

If you're a Monmouth County native and a Jeopardy! fan, you were likely pointing at the television and shouting on Tuesday night. An iconic Jersey Shore landmark was a featured answer -- and the episode was ultimately won by a charismatic New Jersey native with an inspiring story.

The $400 answer under the "Light Headed" category in the Double Jeopardy! round was, "In service since 1764, the oldest of these navigational aids still operating in the U.S. is the one at Sandy Hook, New Jersey."

The correct answer of "a lighthouse" was provided by contestant James Corson, a Maryland-based nuclear engineer.

The lighthouse in question isn't just any ol' lighthouse: the oldest operating lighthouse in the country is the Sandy Hook Lighthouse on the tip of the Sandy Hook peninsula at Gateway National Park.

READ MORE: Mass Grave of Frozen British Soldiers Once Found at Sandy Hook

Sandy Hook is located in Middletown, New Jersey and Middletown Mayor Tony Perry caught the moment the Jeopardy! answer about the famed landmark appeared on television.

As a beacon lighting New York harbor, Sandy Hook Lighthouse was hotly contested during the American Revolution. The lighthouse largely remained under Loyalist control and an encampment called Refugee Town sprung up around it.

Refugee Town drew free and formerly enslaved Black Americans, as well as poor white loyalists to the ad-hoc community.

Ghosts on the Coast detailed this fascinating bit of history in a social media video.

The Sandy Hook Lighthouse mention wasn't the only New Jersey-related aspect of the game show on Tuesday.

Contestant Harvey Silikovitz, a native of West Orange, made his Jeopardy! debut that evening.

READ MORE: Why Are There So Many Deer at Sandy Hook?

Silikovitz ultimately won $23,600 on the show. He told host Ken Jennings that his appearance was a longtime dream. Silikovitz, who has Parkinson's, said he hoped his appearance would inspire others who are living with chronic illnesses.

As per Jeopardy!'s rules, Silikovitz will appear again on the show on Wednesday.

???? Interested in Middletown, New Jersey landmarks? Keep reading to learn about the history of the Evil Clown of Middletown ????

History of the Evil Clown of Middletown

Three-minute read

Asbury Park Press

The long, sometimes contentious debate over what to do with Fort Hancock’s stately but crumbling Officers’ Row homes at the northern end of Sandy Hook has taken a new direction under the Trump administration.

The Department of the Interior has abolished the Fort Hancock 21st Century Advisory Committee, which was established in 2012 to work with the National Park Service on how to best repurpose the remnants of the Army base, which was decommissioned in 1974.

The all-volunteer committee’s termination was announced on the National Park Service’s website. It was one of six similar panels shuttered by recently appointed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who wrote in an internal order that they “are unnecessary and have fulfilled the purposes for which they were established,” according to Politico.com.

The Fort Hancock committee (known as FACA) had meet roughly quarterly. Much of its discussion centered around the National Park Service's leasing program, which repurposed several individual buildings for various uses ranging from eateries to educational. The committee's proceedings exploded into the public eye in 2020, when New York-based developer Stillman International submitted a proposal to repurpose the 21 bayfront officers' homes into 80-plus apartments.

Blowback was stiff from various constituent groups and most notably U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., whose district includes Sandy Hook. Last year, after completing the design process on two prototypes, Stillman put the estimated price tag for the entire project at $100 million — which is $50 million more than it is willing to invest. That rendered the project all but dead.

Adding to the uncertainty about Fort Hancock’s future is the departure of Jen Nersesian, superintendent of Gateway National Recreation Area, who late last year moved to another post within the National Park Service. Nersesian had stabilized the roofs of the Officer’s Row homes and had begun the process of shoring up the masonry and front porches at an estimated cost of $3 million to $4 million.

So now the obvious question is what’s next for this landmark?

"The Fort Hancock leasing program will continue even without the Advisory Committee, and Gateway will continue to work towards preserving these historic structures," National Park Service spokeswoman Daphne Yun told the Asbury Park Press.

Enter the Sandy Hook Foundation, a nonprofit that supports cultural, educational, environmental and conservation programs on the peninsula. Last year foundation chairman Pete Izzo attended the National Park Foundation Friends Alliance conference, where adaptive reuse projects — such as what’s being attempted at Fort Hancock — was a prominent topic.

"We appreciate the work the Fort Hancock Advisory Committee has done over the years to find ways to preserve and reuse many of the buildings," Izzo said. "The Mule Barn (which is now a bar and restaurant) is a great example of a success story, and it provides visitors with the opportunity to enjoy a meal at Sandy Hook, and inside of one of its historic buildings. There is much more to be done, and the Sandy Hook Foundation is already rolling up its sleeves and getting to work."

Izzo added: "We are working closely with the park to step up and find ways to a) stabilize the buildings and b) Do something great to activate them for visitors to enjoy for the next generation.

There are National Park Service rehabilitation success stories that can serve as large-scale models:

All of these adaptive reuse projects were achieved with some form of public-private partnership that ensured that the historic structures were stabilized and preserved for the public to use in some sort of contemporary fashion.

How viable is that for Fort Hancock in the current climate? Will the federal dollars for the public part of that partnership be scarce? Or will the elimination of the sprawling advisory committee streamline the process, with a more nimble facilitator like the Sandy Hook Foundation taking a leading role? These are open questions as the landmark’s next chapter unfolds.

"There are over 430 park units in the National Park Service, and many of those parks have successfully preserved and reinvented historic buildings for visitors to enjoy," Izzo said. "The adaptive reuse of historic buildings is a well-worn model within the National Park Service. We want to preserve the Officer's Row and adjacent buildings for their historic and cultural significance, and hope to activate them for the public to enjoy them for years to come."

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

Politics & Government

The group tasked with re-purposing the dilapidated former U.S. Army officers' housing on Sandy Hook was just eliminated by Trump.

HIGHLANDS, NJ — As part of his efforts to reduce federal spending, President Donald Trump just eliminated the Fort Hancock 21st Century Federal Advisory Committee.

This was the group tasked with finding a way to re-purpose the dilapidated former U.S. Army buildings at the tip of Sandy Hook. The National Park Service, which oversees Sandy Hook, announced here on their website the group was terminated.

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"Consistent with Executive Order 14217, Commencing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, the Fort Hancock 21st Century Federal Advisory Committee was terminated by (U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum) on February 27, 2025," the National Park Service announced.

Former North Dakota governor Burgum cut five other similar parks committees across the nation. Burgum wrote the committees are "unnecessary and have fulfilled the purposes for which they were established."

The Sandy Hook committee was established by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2013. They were supposed to come up with a plan to re-purpose the buildings that housed Army officers and their families when Sandy Hook was Fort Hancock, a U.S. Army base and weapons proving ground.

The row of 21 homes overlooking Sandy Hook Bay is known locally as "Officers' Row." The buildings are stately, but many have become decrepit, dilapidated and are unsafe to enter.

For the past 12 years, the group has failed to come up with a permanent plan as to how to best re-use the buildings.

Multiple private developers have tried to turn Officers' Row into condos or apartments, and one also wanted to open a food/sundries store with a liquor license. But after getting pushback from Congressman Frank Pallone and others, those plans were abandoned.

Other entrepreneurs sought to turn the buildings into summer vacation rentals or a destination wedding site (there is a chapel on the property) — all of which also did not happen.

Still others suggested turning the buildings into private homes, a bed and breakfast, art studios, restaurants, a sailing school and even a hospice. For some reason, none of these plans ever materialized.

The National Park Service has said it cannot afford to renovate the buildings on its own.

"The Fort Hancock 21st Century Federal Advisory Committee was disbanded on February 27, 2025. There was no funding associated with this group," said Daphne Yun, a spokeswoman for Gateway National Recreation Area. "The Fort Hancock leasing program will continue even without the Advisory Committee, and Gateway will continue to work toward preserving these historic structures."

Prior: Developer Wants To Build Sandy Hook Apts.; Congressman Opposed (2020)

Summer Vacation Rentals Planned for Sandy Hook National Recreation Area (2016)

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