- Finns Point
Finns Point is a small strategic
promontory at the southwest corner of theNew Jersey peninsula, on the east bank of theDelaware River near its mouth onDelaware Bay . Due to a geographic curiosity, most of it is located inSalem County, New Jersey though part of it lies inNew Castle County, Delaware , approximately 10 mi (16 km) south ofWilmington, Delaware , and about 5 mi (8 km) northwest of the mouth of theSalem River on the New Jersey bank of the Delaware.Pea Patch Island , part of the state ofDelaware , sits in the channel of the river facing the promontory.The promontory was probably named after early Finnish settlers in the
New Sweden colony in the early 17th century. According to historical records, settlers began crossing the Delaware fromFort Christina to the east bank of the Delaware as early as 1638. In the 1670s the area became settled by English colonists from theNew Haven Colony as part ofFenwicks Colony .The promontory is the location of
Finns Point National Cemetery , a military cemetery used in theAmerican Civil War for Union and Confederate soldiers who died while atFort Delaware on Pea Patch Island. It was also the location of Fort Mott, constructed after the Civil War and used up throughWorld War I to protect the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company facilities upriver atCarneys Point Township, New Jersey , as well as the port of Philadelphia. The fort is now part ofFort Mott State Park .External links
* [http://www.genealogia.fi/place/placenje.htm Finnish place name origins]
* [http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/index?section=news&id=4874173 Channel 6 Action News (Philadelphia) Special Report on Finns Point]
* [http://www.users.voicenet.com/~hsimmons/Finn%27s%20Point%20Website/FinnsPointHomePage.htm Finns Point National Cemetery]
* [http://www.gettysburgtourguides.org/Dispatch/ftmott.html Fort Mott]
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