The Museum
57 Musconetcong River Road
Phone: (908) 638-8523 x405
museum@lebtwp.net
Curators
Gina Sampaio, Curator
Robbie-Lynn Mwangi, Associate Curator
Hours
Tuesday 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Thursday 1:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am - 3:30 pm
ADMISSION IS FREE
If you'd like to be added to our email list, let us know by emailing museum@lebtwp.net.
CURRENT EXHIBIT
Planning for the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence launched many local historic preservation
initiatives. As a result of both the excitement and the opportunities afforded by this commemoration, many public history institutions
and initiatives were founded in the mid-1970s.
Locally, the Lebanon Township Committee appointed its own historical committee whose first goal was to save the township's
former one-room schoolhouses. The New Hampton schoolhouse, after being in use for over a century, had been shuttered and
neglected for many years.
The Historian Committee's first chairperson, Louise Sliker, said the New Hampton schoolhouse was "empty with a hole in
the roof and water washing down, kids climbing through the windows and trying to start a fire." A plan was made to preserve
the building and reopen it as a museum; a dream that was realized in 1982 with the first curator Dorothea Connolly at the helm.
Since that time, the Lebanon Township Museum has been not only a site for housing and displaying historical artifacts
but also a vital part of the community: a place for gathering, sharing talents and learning together.
Join us in our celebration of our first forty years. Our exhibit runs through September and our anniversary party will
be held on Saturday July 2.
Resources
Virtual Visit
Read about Lebanon Township's historic school districts, some of the remarkable residents who have lived here,
current research into our connection with the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and much more . . . all while getting a
sneak peek of exhibits, past and present.
You might be surprised at all our local museum has to offer via this virtual visit!
Shop Local & Support the Museum!
A variety of Lebanon Township pottery pieces, keepsake ornaments and canvas tote bags are available
for sale at the museum and online. Proceeds support the 501c3 non-profit Squiers Point Historians in their mission of
local historic preservation, which include funding the 2018 addition to the Museum as well as the
Carriage Shed Museum Annex. Please visit
Squiers Point Historians of Lebanon Township.
Historians Committee
Museum News
The Paint the Town plein air event celebrates Lebanon Township’s charm by inviting artists to capture the beauty of
local historic sites from Saturday, September 17 through Saturday, October 1. Artists will exhibit their best work at
the Art Show & Silent Auction to be held on Sunday, October 2 at the Inn at Glen Gardner. For more information
including registration, please visit Paint The Town En Plein Air (google.com).
We did it!
Thank you so much for the votes, notes and words of encouragement -- results have been tabulated and we've been chosen
as the BEST MUSEUM IN HUNTERDON COUNTY!
If you haven't stopped in recently to see why, come in for a visit!
Music Video
Before child labor laws were enacted, it wasn’t uncommon for rural children, particularly boys, to miss school
during busy times on the farm. However, some children in Lebanon Township worked other jobs to help support their
farming families.
Nationally, women and children made up the majority of the American textile mill workforce in the early 1900s.
This photograph of the Hopatcong Worsted Mill in Changewater from that time period shows that this fact was true
locally as well.
World Music children’s performer Daria has a new album, “Come From a Coal Town,” that includes songs that
uncover stories of poverty and prejudice from her own family’s history as well as conditions in mines and in coal
towns, like those where they worked and lived. This includes the use of child labor which is covered on the album
in a remake of folk singer Dorsey Dixon’s song, “Babies in the Mill.”
The music video she produced for this song includes an introduction by Lebanon Township Museum Curator, Gina
Sampaio, acting as an early 1900s schoolmarm named Miss Sharps (an homage to our New Hampton school house’s last
teacher, Miss Mary Sharps).