Hackettstown Historical Society

10/16/2026

For those with confirmed reservations only, the Friday, Oct. 16, 2026 Lantern Tour has been postponed to Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. Those confirmed for the Saturday Tours are still on schedule. The timing of the weather event, as well as the possibility of the aftereffects interfering with the tour made it necessary that we postpone the tour.

Sadly, anyone not confirmed by now wasn't able to get spots on the tour due to the incredibly huge demand for attendance. We will try to reach out to everyone to respond, but we were deluged with requests through several different channels.

We tried to keep everyone in the order requests were received, so that we were as fair to all as possible. We also received enough requests that we could have added twice the amount of tours and just barely been able to accommodate everyone that put in a request. Our apologies to all who we were unable to schedule. We will try to find a way to offer more tours next year. Hopefully we'll be able to either recruit more guides, as some of our previous guides were unable to participate this year.

Thank you all so much for your interest and your continuing support!

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10/08/2026

The Historical Society Lantern Tours are back! Reserve your spot for either Friday, Oct. 16th at 7pm, or Saturday, Oct. 17th at 7pm. Tours are $12 per person. Children under 12, accompanied by a paid adult are free.

Make your reservation by messaging us through the message button here, or go to our website http;//www.hackettstownhistory.com and email us through one of the links there. Please supply us with your name, email address, phone number and amount of adults , as well as children under 12 in your party.

We will then contact you back in order to confirm your time and choice of day. We will also notify you of your total. Please bring that amount in cash on the night of the tour and plan to arrive 10-15 minutes before the start of your tour in order to check in and get organized.

The tour is almost exactly 1 mile in length within the relatively flat Hackettstown historic district. There will be a number of stops where we give you details of known, previously investigated paranormal activity, unusual events, and relatively unknown Hackettstown History.

Please plan to wear weather-appropriate clothing, including sturdy, comfortable walking shoes. We will have lanterns to pass out if you'd like them, but please also bring a personal flashlight for each person, if possible. The tours normally take 1 - 1 1/2 hours. depending on your pace, amount of questions, and any extra details your guide may have knowledge of. The sidewalks are not all completely even and are a mix of concrete and flagstone with some gaps and unevenness if various ares, so please watch your step!

10/04/2026

Our apologies, somehow, some preliminary announcements went out that there was to be tours of the First Presbyterian Church Old Burying Ground today at 1 and 3 pm.

Due to lack of volunteer guides for that time, as we found about a week ago, we had to reschedule them to Sunday, Oct. 25th at 1 & 3pm. Flyer will be up within the next week.
Thank you for your support, and we apologize for any inconvenience.

09/25/2026

Join us at the American Legion Hall, 494 Willow Grove St. at 7:00pm on Tuesday, Oct. 6th as the Hackettstown Historical Society hosts Bob Gula, descendant of 7 Rev. War veterans & member of a number of Revolutionary War discussion Groups.

Mr. Gula will present "The Forgotten Victory Trail, the Battle of Springfield and Connecticut Farms 1780." These battles were critical in the defense of both New Jersey & Washington's forces in Morristown. These critical battles also helped to weaken British forces in advance of the Battle of Yorktown.

Everyone is welcome, especially parents, students, & teachers. The program is free for members, and a $5 speaker donation is requested of non-members to help cover the increasing costs of bringing these engaging and interesting speakers to you, our community.

Free refreshments will be provided and the doors open at 6:30pm so you can have coffee, etc. and meet with the Officers and Members of the Board of Trustees. Become a member, or just discuss history, especially of Hackettstown and our surrounding area. We look forward to seeing you there!

09/25/2026

Sharing this video link for Exploring Warren County History Trail:

A description of the 2026 Explore Warren History Trail on November 7-8

09/10/2026

As we solemnly remember the events of 9/11, 25 years ago, there's a story that doesn't always get as much attention as it should. The evacuation by boat that was "larger than Dunkirk." Approximately 500,000 souls were brought from New York City in the space of 9 hours. Here's the story of the great Boatlift of 9/11, and a great "Thank you" to all who came together to help in every way, from First Responders, to these people, and more:

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08/26/2026

Welcome back! As we start the Fall Season, it's time for the restart of our Presentations!

Everyone please join us on Tuesday Sept. 1st, 2026 at 7:00pm at the American Legion Hall, 494 Willow Grove St,. Hackettstown, where Dr. Peter Lubrecht will enlighten us on the Hessians, professional German Soldiers hired by the British Army during the Revolutionary War. Dr. Lubrecht will show us the details, including the facts and fictions of their service for the British/Loyalist cause.

As always, the programs are free for members, and we request a nominal $5 donation for non-members, in order to help continue to bring these speakers to you. Refreshments are free, and we will have the doors open at 6;30pm for those who wish to meet and talk with any of our Officers or Board Members, or would like to sign up for membership.

Also, our apologies on the quality of the flyer, and the unusual lateness of this posting. There have been a number of technical issues that needed to be worked out. Our Instagram page should be up soon also, and we'll post when it's fully functional.

08/23/2026

OK, so to enlighten everyone, Hackettstown High School, in its earlier years, had separate colors for each graduating class! The colors of the Class of 1926 were Navy Blue and White!

The Class Flower was the "Red Rose."

The Class Motto was "Up the Ladder, Step by Step." This was a reference to going from a Freshman to Senior as a series of steps.

This is all information gleaned from the 1926 "Oracle," Hackettstown High School's Yearbook.

08/06/2026

I'm going to give this a couple more days. Let's get some more guesses out there!

OK everyone. It's quiz time! What were the colors of Hackettstown High School's Class of '26? By that, I mean the Class of 1926, not 2026! No cheating by using AI, or Google, Bing, etc.

06/30/2026

Due to the forecast heatwave and lack of central air/adequate climate control in the Museum, and for the safety of both docents and visitors, the Museum will NOT be open tomorrow, WednesdayJuly 1st. We will also NOT open this Friday, July 3rd, 2026 for the same reasons.

We will reopen as usual, at 2pm on Sunday, July 5th, 2026, since the heat wave is expected to break by then. If there is any last minute change, it will be posted here.

Here are some pictures of our current display, the American Revolution at 250 years, and those from Hackettstown who participated in it.