Mission Statement:
Historic Cold Spring Village is a non-profit educational institution established primarily as an open-air living history museum. Its purpose is to function solely and exclusively as an historical, educational, artistic, and literary foundation. This is carried out by presenting, conducting, and sponsoring interpretive programs, displays, publications, live performances, films, traveling and loan exhibits representative of the Early American period in history.
In addition, the exhibits, collections, programs and craft demonstrations present everyday life as it occurred in a small South Jersey farm village during the nineteenth century. An important part of the village’s purpose is to research the literature of Cape May County history and, through interpretation of this material, preserve the cultural patterns of early County settlers. A wide variety of historical, literary and artistic techniques are utilized to present the Village’s story to visitors including authentically restored buildings, active demonstrations of appropriate trades and crafts, formal exhibition of collections, trained and knowledgeable historically clothed interpreters and special educational programs to enhance the concept of the Village.
The Village provides visitors with an understanding of the relevance of their cultural heritage through a personal encounter with the past. It offers a perspective based on historic preservation along with the reenactment of appropriate tasks, skills and behavior characteristics of the 1800s. It is the Board’s intent to encourage the use of talents and services to enrich the programs of Historic Cold Spring Village to further its educational and literary purposes. The Village aims to increase public knowledge and recognition of excellence attained by New Jersey artists, scholars, historians, scientists and others engaged in artistic, historical or cultural activities.
