New Jersey’s Weird Beach Bunker Explained

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The bunker on Cape May Beach is a fascinating relic from the past, nestled among the dunes and sands of this picturesque New Jersey shoreline. Originally constructed during World War II, this concrete structure served as a vital part of the coastal defense system, guarding against potential enemy attacks. Today, the bunker stands as a hauntingly beautiful reminder of history, its weathered facade a testament to the passage of time. Visitors can explore its interior, imagining the lives of the soldiers who once manned its walls and the tense atmosphere of wartime America. Surrounded by the serene beauty of Cape May Beach, the bunker offers a unique blend of historical intrigue and natural splendor, making it a must-see attraction for history enthusiasts and beachgoers alike.
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IT’S HISTORY - Weekly Tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
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Scriptwriter - Gregory Back
Editor - Karolina Szwata,
Host - Ryan Socash
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Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only - always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes - retractions will be published in this section.

[@ITSHISTORY]

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[@clarencesmith2305]

Have you done one on Battery Russel on the north Oregon coast? The only one that did take fire from the enemy during WW-2.

[@TommyTheCat42]

We have abandoned bunkers like this all over Rhode Island. They were awesome to run around these bunkers as a child with underground tunnels that seemed endless. Nowadays they closed up any openings and put railings up everywhere which is understandable due to how dangerous it was!

[@funker419]

Dutch island has the best remaining ones in RI

[@TommyTheCat42]

@@funker419 I grew up in Narragansett and Jamestown and Dutch Island has that cool lighthouse but I’ve never made it over to the tiny island. I was talking more about Ft. Wetherill and the bunkers in Pt Judith

[@jonahruntz9818]

Agreed, there’s still some tunnels you can get into, I know some in jamestown in some private areas, definitely a cool part of growing up in RI

[@robertmcbain6247]

End of an era

[@275Vet-RLTW]

Yeah 40 years ago kids were allowed to risk their lives having an adventure. Now you can't be outside supervision for more than 2 minutes. How many of y'all got on your bikes with buddies and armed with less than 2$ disappeared for 12 hours at a time?

[@jimjohnstonreviewstheworld]

Man this channel finds the coolest obscure historical stuff. Well done

[@formwiz7096]

My mom had a friend who owned a house at the Jersey shore. In the spring and summer of '42, when she'd walk on the beach at night, she'd occasionally see a flash and then hear a rumble in the disatance. Turned out it was the U-boats blowing up the oil tankers coming out of Marcus Hook.

[@russellhltn1396]

Yes, the war did come to the US shores. Something he didn't mention.

[@williamboo9017]

German Uboats were off Seaside Heights. I heard there were long blackout curtains along the boardwalk.

[@johngray9669]

I was stationed at Cape May Coast Guard in the 80s. I remember that bunker. You offered a lot more info than I had then. Thank you.

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

there's also a wrecked concrete ship the s.s. atlantus off the coast of sunset beach on cape may and the ww2 lookout tower

[@nycashone]

There's also abandoned bunkers in Queens, NY. Fort Tilden, there are two.

[@ramonarettzo8883]

We used to be able to walk around the top of the bunker in the 60s and 70s. There was a ramp and there was a fence around the top with those coin operated telescopes. They eventually closed it off. It's all in the ocean now. Thanks for the history lesson!

[@gordoeinstein]

It’s not in the ocean. I live in nearby Avalon and visit this all the time. If to be described, if anything, I would say they’ve built up the dunes. In fact, he shows literal modern photos of it.

[@Ironman-harmonica]

I believe there were picnic tables on top at one time if I remember correctly.

[@julianmalcolm]

@@gordoeinsteinit was in the ocean until 2004 during beach replenishment

[@mizu_the_floatzel]

As somebody who lives in New Jersey, I remember seeing the bunkers in person and well as soon as you talking about the bunkers, well, I'm happy to hear some New Jersey facts

[@Handles_are_good_for_holding]

I’ve been inside that.

[@sailingspark9748]

On the Delaware side, is a matching bunker. It is harder to find as it is still deeply embedded into the dunes at what used to be Fort Miles. While the Nj bunker shows off everything due to erosion, the Delaware one shows you how hard they were to see and hit.

[@Warblaster]

I love walking by there almost every day. :)

[@Death_From_Below]

A Japanese submarine did shell a coastal artillery position in Oregon. We tried to demolish batteries in Hawaii but gave up after breaking windows all over town and causing very limited damage to the battery. Now it's a museum.

[@Islander2112]

This instantly reminded me of Camp Hero in Montauk Long Island.

[@francisdv]

Great job...as always! Thanks for sharing 😊

[@charlesjohnson4933]

There r spotter towers just up the road that have been restored. U should do a show on the Cape May canal.

[@laszynandriy]

I’m so glad your did this story!!! Thank you

[@lorrainedubzak6654]

These were in place as the military had beach patrols during WWII. They were looking out for German Uboats. I would love to visit this and, get pictures of the inside.

[@ipenguin3918]

I've lived in Cape May, and know this structure well --- from the outside. There is one possible entry point, but I'm sure you couldn't get in.

[@julianmalcolm]

There are plenty of bunkers identical to this one along the us coasts that are in far better condition if you wanted to see what the inside looks like

[@FixIt1975]

Ryan, I really appreciate this video. I know I'd asked about this a while ago, like the Tuckerton Wireless. You do a great job with these. I just tuned 49,I've lived in south Jersey almost my whole life. I know plenty of weird and obscure places. Have you done a video on Batsto Village yet? They made munitions for the Revolutionary war, and Joseph Wharton had a mansion there. Wharton State Forest bears his name. Another thing a lot of us especially from Ocean County have had questions about is the Pinewald Hotel in Bayville. Al Capone supposedly had ties to it but I've never been able to find evidence supporting or refuting that claim. There are allegedly underwater tunnels on the property. My dad was born there in 1947 when it was Pinewald Hospital. I love the Jersey history videos!

[@mellowyellow6572]

There’s also an abandoned World War 1 bunker in the woods right by Exit 0 in Cape May if you know where to look, and an abandoned World War 1 watch tower right near this bunker!

[@whyjnot420]

In a similar spirit to this, I would like to recommend Fort Wetherill in Jamestown, Rhode Island. As of today it sits a set of abandoned costal defense batteries on the cliffs, facing to the south. Last I knew, you could still get inside a good portion of the fort. Given that there are basically always at least 2 ways to get around in any given area. The main area of the fort, and corridors around 2 feet wide that run around all the bunkers. There are also air gaps of maybe 18" above some of the rooms in the fort. afaik the last time it was used was immediately following WW2. Where it was used to house German POWs. The guns were long gone by then. After that, the Army (I think) pushed a bunch of soil up against the inside walls of the batteries. Blocking off the main ways to get into a bunch of it, but still accessible with a little exploration (and some wellingtons, it gets wet in some of those side corridors).

[@irobot_2113]

I've been there! Such a cool location to explore and you can get an amazing view from the lighthouse!

[@jangles1839]

An "It's History" upload is one of the best parts of my day! Thanks again Ryan for yet another wonderful piece! The hard work you put into each story truly shows! I'd love for you to do a piece or two from something in my state of South Carolina if you're interested please. We have a very rich and interesting history from our mountains to the coast! Again, thank you so very much! 💙🙏🏼

[@ITSHISTORY]

My pleasure!😇

[@joesanchez979]

Great video

[@bobzelley5100]

Pennsylvania has significant abandoned military ammunition depots. The railroad planned community known as concrete city failed , possibly due to the 1918 Chinese bird flu ( Spanish flu ) . If you can find these locations they are open to explore , unlike nj.

[@DLeadVox]

Looking good Ryan! Keep up the good work!

[@ITSHISTORY]

Thanks! Will do!

[@tdsollog]

This is about an hour south of my house. Interesting place. Nice to see it on KZbin.

[@kurtheidel6535]

On the Delaware side of the bay are several concrete gun towers that still stand.

[@kennethsonier1766]

Good afternoon from Cape Cod 🦈 me and a friend got lost in the tunnels at fort Adams in Rhode Island, it's one of many coastal defense in Rhode Island. Well worth checking out. Keep up the great work and the awesome content 👍✌️🇺🇲

[@MillerMeteor74]

I've known about that bunker since the 80s, and visited 3 years ago. It's pretty cool to see in person.

[@tanja6233]

As a New Jersey resident in Burlington County..I hadn't known there's a bunker.. Cape Mays residents rather you concentrate on the towns beaches / boardwalk/ shopping district as well Victorian residential neighborhoods.. Thank you This Is History appreciate the New Jersey History 👍🏼

[@keithswindell6212]

There are old coastal fortifications like this in many places along the East coast, for example around Portsmouth, NH on both the NH and ME side of the mouth of the Piscataqua River, where they used to protect the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

[@williamthawley9251]

you used to be able to stand on top of this, and the view were really nice. in 1972 and 73, the gun emplacements were still there. also where the parking lot is now, used to be the old foundations of the buildings that were there. used to store ammunition for gun emplacements.

[@jamesharrison2374]

Out side of Savannah GA we had Ft. Screven on Tybee. I believe it was a Spanish American coastal fort. Have family photos of the military training there and carrying Springfield Trapdoor’s today much of the bunker has been turned into costal apartments..

[@mellowyellow6572]

I live in South Jersey. As a child my friends and I used to ride bikes down to Sunset Beach on vacation and explore this thing. It was creepy! There’s also an abandoned World War 1 watch tower right inland. Also you should note that they’ve since repaired the beach around the bunker so that the pilings are no longer visible (you can actually see this in Tom Scott’s video about beach repair), and they’ve sealed the bunker up with concrete to stop people like me from exploring it.

[@Handles_are_good_for_holding]

There is an awesome D shaped bunker off Mississippi right in the gulf. They had massive cannons that would fire and skip the cannon balls off the water into the hauls of a boat. You need a ferry ride to it but it’s very cool to explore. There’s one right at the end of the Philadelphia airport too.

[@williamrobinson827]

You must be referring to Fort Massachusetts (interesting name for a fort off the Mississippi coast. ) Construction started shortly before the civil war. Of course, when the south seceded, the unfinished fort came under confederate control. It saw one engagement when it exchange gunfire with a union warship, with little damage and few casualties on either side.

[@kfitzy87]

If you haven’t looked into it before you should look into the USS Atlantus. It’s a concrete ship from WWI also in Cape May.

[@recompostion]

The Battle of New Orleans actually happened after the War ended and a Treaty was signed. It took weeks to get the communication from the East coast to the Gulf Coast. The battle didn’t need to happen but the British really required the whoopin’ and being taken down a peg. If they didn’t they would not have attacked.

[@julianmalcolm]

The battery was excavated by the 1950s and a building was constructed on top. In 2004 the emplacements and pilings were reburied.

[@patrickmazza7055]

I looked down on the bunker from the Cape May Lighthouse when I visited there a few years back. The docent told me that for a while it was a great place for wild parties.

[@Peter-pv8xx]

Now seems like a good time to explore the battle of the Atlantic and more specifically the battles that took place right off of the east coast of the United States. Fort Hancock at Sandy Hook New Jersey, Fort Wadsworth on Staten island and others were constructed to protect the shipping lanes and the entrance to the New York city harbor.

[@bradymaher9657]

You should do a video on the bunkers at Busch Wildlife in Saint Louis area.

[@902pacific]

grazie

[@liquidalloy]

I got a bunch of pictures of this thing and other places like this in NJ

[@kylorobb]

They are on the SF coast too

[@glenlongstreet7]

There are a couple of smaller gun placements in Westport MA on Gooseberry neck. Went out there once and climbed them. I don't think that was very safe as I was under the influence at the time. But, nobody died.

[@BertLensch]

It's funny to think that in the following years the fear of aerial bombardment became the new focus of defense and Nike Missile sites would spring up near many of these former coastal defense sites. Project Nike and the surface-to-air missile batteries that were formed from the development of the missile have an interesting history during the start of the Cold War, and may of those site are abandoned and littered across the coast as well.

[@Mike-ge7pe]

This bunker is small compared to the much larger bunker complexes of Sandy Hook and Highlands on the south shore of the Raritan Bay, across from NYC. The Navy and Coast Guard still maintain bases nearby

[@carolczimback8665]

There are lookout towers along the coast of Delaware and Maryland. There's one that you can go up to the top. Plus the surrounding park.

[@mikerca]

I would love to see pictures of what it looked like inside, if there are of course any pictures like that exist.

[@konstantinohhh]

I’ve seen smaller pillbox shaped bunkers at Bethany beach in Delaware and O.C. Maryland too.

[@cripplers8]

I saw it several times when I was younger when we went to Cape May…..

[@jovanweismiller7114]

Shortly before World War One, my Grandfather was in the US Coastal Artillery on the coast of Maine, so I know about coastal fortifications!

[@kandipiatkowski8589]

Even tho I wouldn't want to visit there during winter, the Baltic coast looks very nice. Maybe one day......Poland is on my bucket list.

[@margaretkur8161]

My late husband was born in Warsaw. I recognized the Polish flag on his cap.

[@kandipiatkowski8589]

@@margaretkur8161 I have not visited Poland but I have ancestors who lived in Danzig (now called Gdansk) before coming to America.

[@1161byron]

A lot of these down in Galveston texas

[@patrickracer43]

It definitely served it's purpose as German U-Boats were known to be in the waters just off the coast of Wildwood and Cape May

[@Postmortumaz]

Im from Washington state. There's Fort Casey on Whidbey Island. You can rent officer cabins.

[@Danj144]

Check out cape Elizabeth Maine there are a couple bunkers that are similar.

[@Chips2323]

Hi Ryan hope all is well with you and your family, this was again a great subject matter, but here is a thought, with the way the World is now we may just need all of these BUNKERS on the East coast and West coast, maybe for shelters or some other reason...

[@mrclockman1950]

i wonder if you visited the bunker across the river of sandy hook ? on the other side of twin lights . there is a massive coastal gun that has been left for display. now its a park the view is spectacular.If you look carefully at the sea charts you will see the number of u boats sunk along the coast there are books also published showing there locations.

[@boubacar13]

We have Fort Independence in Boston

[@user-fz3zz6ld8j]

HIS STORY !

[@markmower1746]

There's also concrete lookout towers from world war II.

[@mattt233]

Ft. Miles is the coolest thing ever. The entire Delaware Bay was mined. And a Ger.an U-Boat surrendered there.

[@user-or4hs7xq9u]

Seen the bunkers on French coast, concrete, lots of concrete

[@geckoproductions4128]

The casemates for the guns on Galveston Island in Texas are now part of the OMNI hotel on the beach. Unfortunately management will not conduct tours nor even allow exploration :(

[@GardenerEarthGuy]

As a child growing up in NJ, the beach was always a few inches to several feet deep of garbage, and the rivers could catch fire. Now all the garbage goes to Pennsylvania and it's better. We used to ride our bikes on the Raritan River because it was so full of garbage the river became a road. It's different now.

[@subparnaturedocumentary]

the beaches and most rivers and lakes are cleaner now but honestly not sure where they rank compared to other states

[@complexgrafix]

please do fort hancock (sandy hook) NJ

[@raphlvlogs271]

can this bunker be repurposed in to housing or any other usable modern facility?

[@Ironman-harmonica]

No

[@lukasz20]

Nice upside down Singapore hat 😂

[@Cashey_79]

Yeah, on the beach of my hometown Napier, New Zealand there is smaller concrete gun bunkers spread along the beach. Still there to this day. Was same reason, thought the Japanese were gonna invade.

[@matthewpalmerchuck3135]

Can you make a video about the NIKE missile silos that were spread throughout southern New Jersey?

[@Larry]

We have loads of these on our beaches in the UK, but most now are filled with beer cans and smell of pee.

[@luisreyes1963]

Wonder why this was overlooked in The Man In The High Castle.

[@tunakann7629]

The base is abandoned Their defenses are down We attack at dawn....

[@maybehuman4]

It just needs a fresh coat of paint! 😆

[@alexkitner5356]

It needs a lot more than that now, time and the ocean have all but reclaimed it. There is much less now and it is collapsing into the sea.

[@jonnywatts2970]

Keep off... Ha! Yeah right!

[@x-raycat323]

Sandy Hook had them also, there were lots of fun to explore as kids in the seventies in the late eighties we got busted reminiscing and nearly got a tickets

[@FatManWalking18]

the wreck of the Atlantus is nearby

[@mikeklinger1712]

I'm amazed these bunkers are so old! I half expected WWII! Especially after Pearl in '41! If only the government took such an interest in protecting our borders today!

[@baystated]

Register of Historic Places, really? Did any historic events happen there? It sounds more like it costs too much to remove and it'll just wait until it's swallowed by the sea.

[@darkmanzz]

it`s underwater now

[@Your_local_rat_zaynab]

I got in there before with my brother there is a secret area where a wall is smashed i climbed up the wall and got in there was graffiti everywhere and we even found a bloody mattress

[@asn413]

(sigh) there always has to be tagging.

[@MSportsEngineering]

Ryan, do you think Poland is better governed than Germany? Germany seems to be all image and marketing, but nothing actually works well.

[@inherentmirth5180]

lol what an insipid attempt at trolling

[@Thatshowicook]

Something tells me cars ruined this bunker

[@sharksport01]

That could be used for the homeless! 😅

[@nutmeg9593]

I doubt it’s safe. When I was little it was out in the ocean. The shoreline changes constantly.

[@danieltitov4700]

First one here😁

[@davidboyer5074]

You remind of the kids in the 80's during yearbook days at school who would open up someones yearbook and write "I'm happy to be the first to sign your crack" in the crease of one of the pages. Good job... nerd...

[@danieltitov4700]

@@davidboyer5074I think you’re just jealous that you weren’t first..🤭

[@davidboyer5074]

@@danieltitov4700 what's there to be jealous of??? Not being a child? Yeah... I'm OK with it.

[@danieltitov4700]

Sounds like something a jealous person would say

[@ANDYYANKEE]

I thought it was one of Biden's Beach Home's!!! 🤣

[@ricksmith4736]

The invasion is coming from our southern and northern borders right now...... And WERE paying for it and helping fly and ship them here....

[@wtf3883]

And here we have 100,s of thousands, perhaps millions of military age men from hostile countries rolling in unchecked. Thanks Joe, Kamala, and Alejandro.

[@inherentmirth5180]

It's pretty sad that you have to espouse your political BS in an unrelated KZbin video lol

[@user-or4hs7xq9u]

Thanks of interesting video. I've been in coastal bunkers in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 visited with kayak 🛶

[@ITSHISTORY]

Very cool!

[@pavelavietor1]

you are teaching , and yo self do not know reality, just repeating . example New Jersey is in the USA , no America a continent named by the Kingdom of Spain , stop erroneously conditioning the people. saludos

[@lambornpeter3922]

I keep turning off the largely incoherent captions obut they continue. Other than youtoob's stupid nonfunctionlity, it also shows that you took doesn't care turd one about their functionslity of the site. But let anyone violate one of their TOS and watch out, because they flawlessly find the post and discipline you. If only there was an alternative. But I digress. Is anyone else experiencing this idiotic bullsh|t?