BARRIER BEACHES OF THE ATLANTIC COAST. 739 



the basis of present knowledge and observation. We have little 

 accurate information, but, after all," we have much, that is inter- 

 esting. 



The beach of Sandy Hook forms the northern extremity of the 

 New Jersey sea-coast. Previous to 1778 it was connected with 

 the base of the Navesink Highlands by a sandy isthmus, the 

 mouths of the ISTavesink and Shrewsbury Rivers being open to 

 the east ; but from that date until about 1830, and from 1818 until 

 1889, it has been united with the mainland at Monmouth Beach 

 by a narrow strip of sand. 



According to records in the office of the Surveyor-General of 

 East Jersey and in that of the United States Coast Survey, the 

 point of Sandy Hook advanced northward about one mile between 

 1685 and 1885. The lighthouse was built about 1764 near the wa- 

 ter's edge, and the ground on which it stands had then existed for 

 only fifteen years as a portion of terra firma. 



In 1844 the point was about two hundred and fifty yards north 

 of its present limit. Since that date it has receded slowly toward 

 the south, and toward the west has extended a quarter of a mile. 

 "We have no evidence concerning the date of formation of the old 

 "Hook" which existed before 1685. It is now well marked by 

 immense forest trees, which exceed in height and size of trunk 

 any of their species known to the writer in the neighborhood of 

 New York. 



The rapid growth of Sandy Hook is due to a current which 

 flows northward from the vicinity of Manasquan, carrying with 

 it a great quantity of sand removed from the water front of As- 

 bury Park, Long Branch, Seabright, and that vicinity, which is 

 dropped along the border of the " Hook " and its extremity. The 

 investigations of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey 

 have shown that the ebb and flow of the tides from and to New 

 York Bay produce this current by drawing a stream of water 

 through False Hook Channel, which lies between Sandy Hook 

 and a submerged bar called False Hook half a mile to the east. 

 The stream flows northward more than seven hours out of twelve, 

 and from this fact property-owners in the neighborhood of Long 

 Branch may appreciate what becomes of their real estate when it 

 disappears during the storms. If there were any means of iden- 

 tifying the soil, it might all be found on the rapidly growing 

 point of Sandy Hook. 



About 1778 a channel was opened across the narrow isthmus 

 which united Sandy Hook with the base of the ISTavesink High- 

 lands, and a new passage being thus afforded for the tidal cur- 

 rents of the Navesink and Shrewsbury Rivers, the old Shrewsbury 

 Inlet, which formed the common mouth of those two estuaries, 

 was gradually closed by the northward extension of the sand-spit 





