Hope Historical Society
323 High Street
Hope, NJ 07844
No Phone Number-Please email via their website.
https://www.hopenjhistory.com/
Open: Sundays 1:00pm-3:00pm from June to October: Please check website for times
My review on TripAdvisor:
Hope Historical Society at 323 High Street in Hope, NJ
Trout Alley right next to the museum during the tour in 2024
On Friday the 13th in 2023, the Hope Historical Society had been open for the afternoon for a tour and I was able to visit the inside of the museum for a short visit. The museum is tiny inside being an old home and it takes less than an hour to visit the museum.
The museum’s collection is vast for such a small museum. They have history of this section of New Jersey with maps and old pictures, they have displays on rural New Jersey and the history of the area. The town of Hope, NJ was founded as a Moravian community and their are artifacts from that time.
They also have decorative objects from a rural home’s parlor with furniture and decorative items from a rural farm home. There is all sorts of Victorian furniture, paintings and prints and things from homes of the area.
the hominess of the museum with its fireplace.
The decorative furniture and objects of the museum.
Furniture and decorative objects of the local community.
Decorative objects in the cases.
In December 2021, I went on a Lantern Tour of Hope, NJ’s downtown district for the Christmas holiday season visiting this once Moravian founded town. The evening was an interesting tour of the history of this small town near the Delaware Water Gap with visits to historical homes of the residents of the town and the manufacturing hub.
We toured the historic downtown district that was ablaze with lights and garland learning about the residential and commercial district and the role it played in the development of the town. We toured the former Grist Mill, Cannery, Distillery, homes and former barns and churches and given a short history of them.
The New Jersey history display of the Hope Historical Society.
We toured the Historical Society which had a collection of artifacts from the town including pictures of the town at various times of history, resident’s personal affects including gloves, shoes and glasses and family heirlooms. There is also a small assortment of vintage furniture from different periods. The building may have been small but it was packed with information.
The displays included old photographs and local memorabilia, an 1850 map of Warren County, NJ, genealogy of the town’s residents and historic documents, primitive furniture and Moravian history (Hope Historical Society). Two of the major fundraisers that the Society has is the Christmas Craft Market and the Lantern Tour.
The inside of the museum for the holidays in both 2021 and 2024 was decorated for the Christmas holidays with traditional Moravian decorations. The decorations included dried herbs, homemade decorations and a ‘Tower Tree’ which is made from a framework with pine branches and fruit and herb decorations that would reflex the times.
Moravian Decorations 2024 Christmas decorations
Moravian Decorations 2024 inside the museum
Moravian Decorations 2024 The Traditional Moravian Tower Christmas tree
Moravian Decorations 2024 The Nativity Scene
The Hope Lantern Tour on December 11th and 12th, 2021 (Again in 2024)
This is the ‘Hope Lantern Tour’ on December 11th, 2021 and 2024:
We continued the tour as the night grew darker and the town lit up with all its Christmas glory. There were supposed to be 1500 luminaries but because of the upcoming rainstorm that was supposed to arrive later that evening, they canceled them. The rest of the town was adorned with white lights and garlands. We started the tour at the Hope Community Center where food and bathrooms were available.
The Hope Community Center on Hope Blairstown Road during Christmas tour 2024
One of our tour guides, Anne, who was wearing traditional Moravian clothing
We moved to what was once the manufacturing center of the town and passed the former factories and manufacturing took place. We then walked down the hill to the Inn at Millstone Creek, where the Christmas tree display was located. We then moved up the hill to visit the Hope Historical Society.
Downtown luminaries light up Downtown Hope, NJ
This is “Trout Pass” where people avoided paying the tolls on the bridge during the day
While we were walking through “Trout Pass” during the tour. a group of school children performed Christmas songs by a large fire. I felt for these kids as it was getting colder outside.
The kids singing by the fire just below the Hope Historical Society
Video of the performance:
Video of the performance:
We then walked to the home across the street from most of the buildings where the businesses were located and heard the tales of Moravian Christmases past. All that talk about Gingerbread house making and baking to get ready for the holiday feast made us all hungry.
Starting the walking tour in Downtown Hope, NJ
We started at the old Dairy Creamery
Starting the walk around Moravian Hope, NJ
First we visited the Nativity scene display at the old Creamery. This is what the Moravians did when they visited each other during the holidays to see each of their displays in the homes.
The Nativity Show
The Nativity Show
The video of the show:
We made our way to former homes that are now a local bank were light with white lights along the doors and windows. The First Hope Bank was once known as the ‘Gemeinhaus’, which was the church/community center of the Village of Hope. It was built in 1781.
The walking tour showcased the town beautifully
The First Hope Bank at dusk
The luminaries by the Hope Bank in the middle of Downtown Hope, NJ
Our last part of the tour, we visited someone’s garage for a ‘Live Nativity’ of the Baby Jesus and was told the story from the Bible about the birth of Christ. The actors involved were very interesting but they could have cleaned the garage of the modern items located on the side of it.
The live Nativity (the actors looked like they were freezing outside in the 30 degree weather)
Homes decorated for the December 2024 tour
Downtown Hope, NJ is so beautiful at Christmas
We ended up back at the Community Center as they were cleaning up and I went to visit the ‘Festival of Trees’ at the Inn at Millrace Pond that itself was closed for renovation. I was the last one on the tour to visit what was the dining room to see various Christmas trees decorated by members of the community.
The Festival of Trees
The Festival of Trees
The Festival of Trees
It was a very festive room with Christmas of various shapes and sizes each decorated with a different theme and tables set elaborately for Christmas Dinner. I really liked the one that the elementary school students had created with the handwritten artwork and letters to Santa.
The Christmas tree decorated by students in 2024
In 2024, the ‘Festival of Trees’ was in the Community Center where we started the tour and it seemed that the volunteers liked it better there.
The “Festival of Trees” in the Community Center at the start of the tour in 2024
After I left the Inn at Millrace Pond, everything had wrapped up for the evening and the town was really quiet. I was starved and found the only open restaurant in the area, Hope Pizzeria at 435 Hope Blairstown Road located in a small strip mall. The pizza here is excellent (see my review on TripAdvisor).
435 Hope Blairstown Road
https://www.facebook.com/hopepizzeria/
My review on TripAdvisor:
The pizza here is delicious
For the tour in 2024, I ate dinner at the Community Center where the Hope Fire Department prepared the food for the fundraiser. You had a choice of a Meatball sandwich, Eggplant Parmesan, Mac & Cheese or Penne Vodka. I chose the Mac & Cheese with a Apple Cider Donut for dessert. The perfect comfort food on a cold night.
The Mac & Cheese dinner at the Community Center warmed me up after a cold night walking
The last part of the evening was spent at the Moravian Candlelight Service at the St. John’s Methodist Church. This beautifully run service included all the traditional Christmas Carols, a very engaging talk by the former pastor and a candlelight ceremony towards the end service. You can see the whole service on the St. John’s Methodist Church’s Facebook page.
The church during Christmas 2024
The Cemetery decorated for the holidays in December 2024
https://www.umc.org/en/find-a-church/church/11006
(You can see the church service on their Facebook page)
My review on TripAdvisor:
It was a wonderful evening of music, songs and prayer and the church was crowded with both locals and visitors. In 2024, it was funny that I have gotten to know the merchants and the people at the Hope Historical Society so everyone was greeting me at the church or we talked after services were over. What I loved about the Moravians is that you do not have to stand up during services like the Catholics do and I prefer this. It was nice to just sit and enjoy the services.
In 2021, this service took about an hour. By the time I got to my car, it started to mist and then rain. It was pouring by the time I got on the highway. Still, it was a wonderful evening of touring and it put me in the Christmas spirit. In 2024, it was just freezing outside, so I had to make a dash to the car and let it warm up. There was no traffic leaving Hope that evening as most people went home after the tour and there was no traffic on Route 80 so I got home in forty-five minutes. Enough time to relax and fall asleep on the guest room bed. It really was a beautiful night and the town could not have been prettier.
St. John’s Church in Downtown Hope, NJ for the Christmas services
The Christmas tree decorated in the church
The Candlelight Service was very nice and was the perfect way to start the holiday season
After the Candlelight church services, I joined the other parishioners for cookies and hot drinks in the community room of the church. They had a nice crowd that night but everyone looked so cold and the temperature dropped to 25 degrees in 2024. People did not linger that long and I felt bad for the church who had trays and trays of cookies. Still it was a wonderful night of touring around the town.
The History of the Hope Historical Society:
(From the Hope Historical Society website)
The Hope Historical Society & Museum are located at 323 High Street (Route 519 North) at the top of a stone bridge within the State and National Historic Register District in Hope Township, NJ. The tiny frame building was thought to be the original 1820’s toll keeper’s house. It was used as a private home until 1955, when it was restored by the Hope Historical Society and became the current museum and organizations headquarters.
Historical Society meetings with guest speakers of topics of historical interest are held April-November on the first Tuesday of the month, generally, at the Hope Community Center.
Site from Friday the 13th on January 13th, 2023:
The Moravian Cemetery in the film.
The Moravian Hope Cemetery
Where Annie got dropped off in the film
The Moravian Church cemetery
The John Blair grave that the Moravian Cemetery.
The Cemetery dirt being sold by the church on “Friday the 13th”
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 