Due to a huge hurricane in 1955 along the Delaware River, the US Army Corps of Engineers asked Congress to authorize the building of a dam at Tocks Island to control flooding along the Delaware River. The necessary area around the Delaware River was acquired through condemnation by the U.S. Government; however, due to constant protests by area residents which were eventually taken up by elected officials such as the Governor of New Jersey, the dam was never built. In 1965, President Johnson signed a law creating the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Up into the mid-1970s, a total of 15,000 people were asked to vacate their homes and summer cottages before the dam was cancelled; these land takings were incorporated into the Recreation Area in 1978.