The Hopewell Museum

01/23/2026

Speaker Series - "If New England we conquer, Old England's Undone." Some Unexpected Contemporary British Views of the American Revolution

Wednesday, February 11th, 2026 7:00 - 8:30 pm

Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Hall, 80 W Broad St., Hopewell

Registration for both in-person and Zoom is required.
In Person
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeysn_FXlCssLLXu8HIbzCtQp4rSWy8DzBlMggTO_GjG1k8Eg/viewform

Via Zoom
https://www.hopewellvalleyhistory.org/event-details/ian-burrows-talk-if-new-england-we-conquer-old-englands-undone-1/form

01/14/2026

Tonight's the night!

12/10/2025

"To Be Found In Every House": Cider in Eighteenth-Century America

Consumed by everyone from wealthy landowners to day laborers, cider was the most common beverage in early America. Much of it was made simply to be drunk, but a few Americans, like Washington and Jefferson, tried to create something truly special. We will explore the range of American cider culture from the earliest settlement to the 1790s and see how cider was so ingrained in American culture that even the early Temperance movement thought it was safe.

Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Museum, Hopewell Public Library NJ, and the Hopewell Valley Historical Society.

About the Speaker: For over twenty years, Mark A. Turdo, historian and museum professional, has been researching and recreating historic alcoholic cider. He is especially interested in early American cider and cider culture. In 2013, he began the Pommel Cyder blog (https://pommelcyder.wordpress.com), where he shares his adventures in cider research and his experiments in cidermaking. Turdo has shared his cider research at several cider events, cideries, and museums, including the Pennsylvania Cider Fest, Pour the Core Philadelphia, Philadelphia Cider Week, Pennsbury Manor, the Sigal Museum, Manoff Cidery, and Ploughman Ciders.

Time: 7:00 - 8:30 PM
Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Hall, 80 W Broad St, Hopewell
Or via Zoom

Registration for in-person is required.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeeGbyooPAVtcFALrFUvNzIt6C1z_uwfbAq3fKrzG-K_hLWBA/viewform.

Registration for Zoom is required.
https://www.hopewellvalleyhistory.org/event-details/cider-in-eighteenth-century-america-zoom/form

12/03/2025

Are you coming out to Hopewell on Saturday afternoon?

Come out to the "Saw Shed" at 43 Railroad Place on December 6th for our annual Holiday Open House, held in partnership with the Hopewell Public Library and the Hopewell Old School Baptist Meetinghouse. The renovation has begun, so visit us to see our upcoming plans for our Reimagination of the Hopewell Museum. We will also have some choice items from our extensive archives.

Thanks to Liza and Sky Morehouse of Morehouse Engineering, we can host our Open House in office space graciously made available to us while work goes on at the museum.

Also, be sure to check out local businesses in Hopewell for the Holiday Passport Weekend!

Doors open at 1:00
Please park in the plentiful street parking.

11/24/2025

Come out to the "Saw Shed" at 43 Railroad Place on December 6th for our annual Holiday Open House, held in partnership with the Hopewell Public Library and the Hopewell Old School Baptist Meetinghouse. The renovation has begun, so visit us to see our upcoming plans for our Reimagination of the Hopewell Museum. We will also have some choice items from our extensive archives.

Thanks to Liza and Sky Morehouse of Morehouse Engineering, we can host our Open House in office space graciously made available to us while work goes on at the museum.

Also, be sure to check out local businesses in Hopewell for the Holiday Passport Weekend!

Doors open at 1:00
Please park in the plentiful street parking.

11/06/2025

Great turnout tonight for Doug Dixon's lecture on the Ferrante Dress Factory.

10/22/2025

Why is there an Italian villa standing by itself in the Sourlands? Doug Dixon investigates the story of the Hopewell Dress Factory on November 5th at 7:00.
Registration is free, but is required if you'd like to attend.
https://www.hopewellvalleyhistory.org/post/investigating-the-hopewell-dress-factory-a-talk-by-doug-dixon?fbclid=IwY2xjawNkl11leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFoaUZKaFhQNGYzV3pOUUpnAR4d-Ea6xuo_FmrE0T3WGQ67JhVTdVmA4t2Jx-2cL1YQj9lxgz_sGwlKaUpezg_aem_vMKTnARdD2TiMckG95OtAQ

10/21/2025

Any plans tomorrow night?

Registration is required for in-person and Zoom.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfL_tX9o00IG2ein0a-voEjbhSw-AUDIjgTgv_ip_-wnpUlNQ/viewform

Wednesday, October 22nd
6:15 pm - 8:15 pm
in person at the Hopewell Theater or via Zoom,
5 Greenwood Ave, Hopewell, NJ 08525

Co-sponsored by: The Hopewell Museum, the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, and the Hopewell Public Library.

10/15/2025

Hopewell Valley researchers rejoice!
Starting on October 22nd, scheduled research appointments will be available again! With the renovation of the museum's interior starting, our research space has moved to 43 Railroad Place in the rear building known as the "Saw Shed," graciously made available to us by Sky and Liza Morehouse.

As before, the Hopewell Museum happily offers scheduled research appointments between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm. If you would like an appointment, you can contact: [email protected] or leave a message at (609)466-0103. Abundant street parking is available. We will confirm the date and time. Please be aware that some less frequently used archives have been moved to storage until we return to the museum.

For continuous updates, please check our website.
https://thehopewellmuseum.org/

09/05/2025

You might be asking what’s going on at the Hopewell Museum.

Over the last year, we have been preparing for the next significant step in the museum’s reimagination and renovation of the building. To ensure the building was ready for this work, we had to relocate our collection to protect our artifacts. While this is a significant development in its own right, it also enabled us to begin the process of not only understanding our collection in greater detail, but also to start the conservation of the various items that tell the story of the Hopewell Valley that the museum has been entrusted with for the past 100 years.

We are fortunate to have board members, staff, and volunteers who have given so much to us, enabling us to reach this point.

In the next few weeks, the renovation of the building will start. As work progresses, we will let you know about the latest developments. This includes when we will be opening our doors for research at our off-site annex location in Hopewell Borough.

Like all of you, we look forward to reopening our doors to welcome visitors again.

If you'd like to contribute, please follow the link below.
https://thehopewellmuseum.org/contribute

04/17/2025

This week marks the 113th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Interestingly, the Hopewell Museum's vast textile collection includes a coat that belonged to Stephen Weart Blackwell, a passenger on the ship, who unfortanly lost his life in the sinking. This coat, which was not taken on the voyage, is a reminder that these major events from history books, documentaries, and movies involved real people.

Part of the Hopewell Museum's responsibility is the preservation of its collection, which includes a diverse range of artifacts, including textiles. To this goal, starting in the summer of 2024, the Hopewell Museum contracted Wendy Jessup to guide the preservation of its important and extensive collection of nearly 2,000 textiles. If you are interested in learning more about the work Wendy has done for the museum, please join us at the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library at 7:00 p.m. on April 29th.

You can attend the event either in person or by Zoom

Registration is required for both.

IN PERSON at the Hopewell Branch of the MC Library - Click here to register
https://events.mcl.org/event/14319772?f=h

Click here to register by Zoom
https://www.hopewellvalleyhistory.org/event-details/the-hopewell-museums-textile-collection-a-curatorial-perspective/form

This program is co-sponsored by the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, The Hopewell Museum, and the Hopewell Branch of the Mercer County Library.

12/17/2024

Preservation of the Hopewell Railroad Station: A Partnership with the New Jersey Historic Trust

Presentation by Michael Mills

Wednesday, January 15, 2025, 7 pm - Free and open to the public

The recent rehabilitation project at the Hopewell Railroad Station is the result of an ongoing relationship between the Borough of Hopewell and the New Jersey Historic Trust. Since the early 1990s, the station has twice been a recipient of grants in aid from the Trust to preserve its form and materials. The station is one of the oldest in New Jersey and its picturesque Second Empire detailing has made it a favorite subject for artists. The building has become the visual symbol of the community and is part of the official seal of the Borough.

The presentation will discuss: the historical background of the station, the chronology of the original project including the Preservation Plan, grants from the NJ Trust and DOT, the uses of the building, deferred exterior maintenance over time, the preservation plan update, and the recent grant work. Michael Mills, FAIA, of Mills + Schnoering Architects, LLC, the architect for both grant projects will discuss the project history and 1990s restoration, and Senior Associate, Jennifer Arnoldi, AIA, will review the building conditions that the current project addressed, show work in progress during construction, and present the vision for the completed project.

About Michael Mills
Michael Mills is a nationally recognized architect and preservation expert, renowned for his work in the design and restoration of historic structures. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he has dedicated over 30 years to leading the rehabilitation and preservation of historic buildings, with a focus on adaptive reuse and continued functionality.

About Jennifer Arnoldi
Jennifer Arnoldi is a Project Manager at Mills + Schnoering, where she has worked since 2020, specializing in the rehabilitation of both historic and contemporary buildings. With a strong background in architecture and design, she is skilled in building diagnostics, restoration planning, and historical documentation, including National Register of Historic Places nominations and Federal Tax Credit projects.

Hopewell Public Library NJ Speaker Series

Co-sponsored by the Hopewell Valley Historical Society and the Hopewell Museum.

Attend the event in person in Fellowship Hall at the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, 80 West Broad Street, Hopewell, NJ 08525.

The in-person event is free and open to the public – No registration is required.
OR
Join online virtual presentation via Zoom, still free, register below.
https://www.hopewellvalleyhistory.org/event-details/preservation-of-the-hopewell-railroad-station-a-partnership-with-the-new-jersey-historic-trust/form