Hope NJ Trip

Do You Know Hope? Do you know Hope, New Jersey? Well, here is your opportunity.

Perhaps you’ve never been to Hope, a community settled by the Moravians in 1769, or maybe you’ve only passed through. On Saturday, September 21, you’ll have the chance to join the Central Moravian History Committee for a closer look at the wonderful village of Hope. You will carpool to Hope and begin your tour at 10:00 A.M.

As a resident of Hope, I consider myself fortunate to live in, and be a steward of this picturesque, unique town. We, like Bethlehem, are one of the earliest planned communities in the nation, and as you come into town there is no mistaking that Hope was settled by the Moravians, with its many stone buildings lining almost every street.

The walking tour will start with the Gemeinhaus, now First Hope Bank. You will then see Hope’s earliest Moravian farmhouse and barn, located in the center of town, and the 1769 gristmill in the “industrial section” of Hope. The Single Sister’s House and School, the last building erected by the Moravians in 1803, will also be on the tour. The Hope Historical Society and Museum will be open for you. This building, built in the early 1800’s, is believed to have served as the toll house for the stone bridge crossing Beaver Brook.

As a special treat, you will also have the opportunity to tour a Moravian Home built somewhere between 1780 – 1800. This home is particularly unique because it hasn’t been lived in since the 1950s and was probably last modernized in the 1940s. It has one cold water spigot in the kitchen and by today’s standards, a very primitive electrical system. There has never been the incorporation of an indoor bathroom or a central heating system. The fact that time has stood still for this home is rare and it is soon to be at the beginning stages of restoration. Come see this home before it’s restored.

One of the last stops on the tour will be God’s Acre. In 1966, a marker placed by the Society of the United Brethren was “dedicated to the sacred memory of the sixty-two persons who died in the early Moravian settlement of Hope, New Jersey, between 1773 and 1808 and are buried in this cemetery.”

The walking tour will last about two- and one-half hours with a sandwich lunch served halfway through the tour in Hope’s stone Community Center, built 1841. There will be moderate hills to walk up as well as some stairs. If you have any questions, contact the church office.

We hope you are able to join us!

Sincerely,

Pete Peterson and Bob May, your hosts and tour guides