Finns Point is a small strategic

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 soft ...

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 its eastern terminus is the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaware. Its cou ...

, and

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of t ...

, located at the southwest corner of the cape of Penns Neck, on the east bank of the Delaware River near its mouth on

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inla ...

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

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

, 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 is an

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

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

. The area 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 Aug ...

Pea Patch Island Pea Patch Island is a small island, approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) long, in the U.S. state of Delaware, located in the mid channel of the Delaware River near its entrance into Delaware Bay. It is a low, marshy island, located in New Castle ...

, part of the state of Delaware, sits in the channel of the river facing the promontory.

17th century

At the time of European colonization in the 17th century the Delaware River 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 Cree ...

was known as Varkens Kill, or Hogg Creek. Tradition holds that a settlement was first planted by Finns as part of the colony of

New Sweden New Sweden ( sv, Nya Sverige) was a Swedish colony along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now the United States from 1638 to 1655, established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great military power. New Sweden fo ...

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 The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The history o ...

(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 Kill may also refer to: Media *'' Kill!'', a 1968 film directed by Kihachi Okamoto * ''Kill'' (Cannibal Corpse album), 2006 * ...

. 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 ...

, just east of present-day

Salem, New Jersey Salem is a city in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the city's population was 5,146,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 ...

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 ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...

, 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 a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

.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, a military cemetery used in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

for

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and Confederate 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, the Union used Fort Delaware ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

to protect the

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

facilities upriver at

Carneys Point Township, New Jersey Carneys Point Township is a township in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 8,049, reflecting an increase of 365 (+4.8%) from the 7,684 counted in the 2000 Census, which ...

, as well as the port of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. The fort is now part of Fort Mott State Park.

References

External links

Finnish place name origins

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

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

17th century

Military facilities

See also

References

External links