New Jersey
St. Hubert’s Chapel | Visit a Medieval-Style Chapel in North Jersey Designed by Louis C. Tiffany | Jersey Digs
As the ferry pulled into the dock, the small island on Lake Kinnelon, where St. Hubert’s Chapel was built, came into focus. The clock tower rose taller into the sky and lily pads floated in the rippling water. Waiting on land was Tom Kline, who is the reason that this island-bound church is even standing today.
If you’re wondering how this tiny, medieval-inspired chapel ended up in New Jersey, let me introduce you to Francis Kinney. He became filthy rich as the owner of one the largest cigarette companies in the world. Those familiar with the television show Gilded Age are well aware of the high society battle between “new money” and “old money.” The Nouveau Riche often coped with social rejection by building extravagant homes and monuments out of spite. Kinney was no exception.
Spurned by the blue blood communities in upstate New York, he sought revenge in the late 19th century by buying his own miniature kingdom on 5,000 acres in Pequannock Township. Locals even called him the Baron of Kinnelon, perhaps ironically. While the original manor house no longer exists, other family relics still stand nearby, including his son’s manor house, a rampart-style lookout tower on the lake’s northern edge, and the chapel.
When Kinney died in 1908, he left the chapel and surrounding land to his son, who, without heirs, in turn left it to a friend named John Talbot, who subdivided the lakefront property, creating a gated community called Smoke Rise. The chapel served as a community church until 1952. Left unattended, the first of several vandals broke into the church in 1957, destroying and ransacking the relics. All of the stained-glass windows, except for one, were destroyed. In the 1960s, Kline, realizing the chapel’s beauty, vowed to restore the chapel, initially with his own money. In 1991, he formed a nonprofit called the Kinnelon Heritage Conservation Society.
It wasn’t easy to book this tour. I first reached out in February, and again in April. After hearing nothing, I moved on with my life, convinced my email got lost in the inbox of the small but busy nonprofit that fundraises and restores the chapel. Then out of the blue, I got an email in August asking me to choose the date of my tour.
With immense gratitude, I entered the dim chapel. The first thing I noticed in the hallway is Louis C. Tiffany’s stained-glass window of a Celtic crucifix. In fact, Tiffany designed the entire interior of the chapel, including the wooden sacristy and the altar. But the other windows were designed by another glassmaker.
Darren Tobia/Jersey Digs.
The other major artwork is Italian sculptor Antonio Tantardini’s six-foot-tall marble statue of an angel. This used to serve as the grave maker to Kinney’s mother, Mary Cogswell Kinney, who was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in DC. It was brought here to ensure its protection. As an indication of the Kinney family’s wealth and influence, his mother was a friend of Mary Todd Lincoln and witnessed the president’s assassination. Fortunately the statue has, for the most part, survived the vandalism. All that was lost was a carved trumpet that was held up by the statue’s right arm. Restoring that missing piece is one the Kinnelon Heritage’s last remaining projects inside the chapel.
As the tour group entered into the chapel, and the eight of us sat in the pews facing the altar. I briefly imagined Kinney’s wife praying here with her children and tried to imagine her fears and concerns and what drove her to piety. It is easy to feel close to divinity bathed in multihued light and surrounded by precious artifacts.
I have been on tours of other historic places and watched well-meaning volunteers spew facts from a script or even read directly from cue cards. Hearing Kline tell us stories about the artworks in painstaking detail and answer our questions extemporaneously made me realize that the chapel is really his passion. Whatever forces brought him here were certainly fated. It is very likely the chapel wouldn’t be here today if he hadn’t begun restoring it in the 1960s. Structures without windows, open to the elements, don’t last very long.
After sinking six figures into restoring the church, Kline said that he had to assure his donors that vandalism wouldn’t happen again. Today the island is outfitted in security cameras to ensure this unusual place of history and beauty can be enjoyed by generations to come.
As we unwillingly left the island – a new tour group had arrived and the chapel can only hold 35 guests – I thought about two things. How amazing this place must look in the fall surrounded by autumn foliage and why this place isn’t more widely known. The boat driver must have overheard me saying this to a friend because he began talking about the difficulty of opening up the chapel to more tourism. It’s a delicate balance between sharing this work of art with the public and allowing Smoke Rise, a gated community of million dollar homes, remain private. Social media can quickly turn great places into tourist traps and perhaps St. Hubert’s Chapel will remain special precisely because it rewards those determined and patient enough to see it.
Planning a Trip to St. Hubert’s Chapel
I can’t stress enough that you have to sign up in advance for the tour. The dock is located behind a gate house that checks the name of those on the tour. Email Kinnelon Heritage Conservation Society here and be ever-so patient. The organization also offers private tours for $250.
You can also rent the chapel for a private event (weddings and christenings are not uncommon) through the Smoke Rise Inn. Use of the chapel is an add-on to their catered event services.
New Jersey
Though down from previous month, New Jersey online casinos post November revenue record in 2025
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While online casinos in New Jersey fell short of another revenue record, November was still the state’s second-best month ever with over $253 million.
They’ve been around for over 12 years, yet online casinos in New Jersey continue to find ways to set revenue records. After posting the industry’s largest single-month total in October, NJ online casinos last month combined for $253 million to set a November record and ranks as the second-biggest single-month total in Garden State history.
NJ online casinos set single-year record with one month left
Since launching in 2013, NJ online casinos have continually set high-water marks – even now, a dozen years later.
With $253 million in November revenue, as reported by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, casino apps in the Garden State now sit at just over $2.64 billion for the year, leading to $455 million in state tax revenue. With one month left in 2025, the industry has already set a single-year record, which previously stood at around $2.4 billion.
To further put into perspective the growth of online gambling in New Jersey, the industry is over 22% ahead of the 11-month pace it set in 2024. Consider the first 14 months of online casinos in NJ, during which time operators combined for a mere $131.2 million in revenue.
While it’s unlikely that NJ online casinos will reach the $3 billion mark by the end of the year, iGaming has proven it can continue to grow after more than 10 years of existence.
FanDuel Casino, DraftKings Casino continue to set pace
While the monthly total is one for the books, the standard brands set themselves apart from the rest of the market.
For example, FanDuel Casino – which new users can sign up with and claim the FanDuel casino bonus – reported $60.2 million. That was well ahead of the second-place DraftKings Casino bonus, which helped drive $49.6 million in November.
Along with the BetMGM Casino app ($30.6 million), Borgata Casino ($20.6 million) and Caesars Palace Online Casino ($19.3 million), the top five revenue-earners in November accounted for more than 71% of the total online casino total in November.
New Jersey
Ice, freezing rain alerts expand to 10 N.J. counties. Wind advisory issued for 50 mph gusts Monday.
Winter weather advisories have been expanded to 10 New Jersey counties with freezing rain that could cause a dangerous layer of ice tonight.
The National Weather Service has also issued a wind advisory for 16 counties Monday with up to 50 mph gusts possible.
The more immediate concern is freezing rain already hitting the state Sunday evening.
Winter weather advisories for Bergen, Essex, Hudson Passaic and Union counties expire between 10 p.m. and midnight.
Winter weather advisories for Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties take effect at 6 p.m. and run through 2 a.m.
As temperatures remain near or below freezing across northern New Jersey this evening, precipitation will fall as freezing rain, particularly in Warren and Morris counties where a glaze to one-tenth of an inch of ice accumulation is possible.
The National Weather Service warns that even areas outside the advisory that remain near freezing at the onset of precipitation could experience localized icing, especially on shaded surfaces that have remained below freezing for more than 36 hours.
Temperatures will rise above freezing areawide during the pre-dawn hours Monday as a warm front lifts through the region, changing any remaining freezing rain to plain rain.
A brief break in the rain is likely prior to daybreak Monday.
The warm front will be quickly followed by a strong cold front Monday afternoon, bringing another period of rain that may be moderate in intensity at times.
High temperatures Monday will reach the upper 40s along the coast before the cold front passes, bringing high winds to the area.
The wind advisory for 16 counties runs from 10 a.m. Monday to 1 p.m. Tuesday. Just Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties are not under wind advisories.
“Strong westerly winds develop Monday with wind gusts up to 50 mph and a wind advisory has been issued,” the weather service said Sunday evening. “Some tree damage and power outages possible.”
Tuesday will be markedly colder with high temperatures struggling to rise above freezing even at the Jersey Shore.
Wind chills in the teens and low 20s are expected during the day.
Skies will be partly cloudy with continued gusty winds of 20 to 30 mph.
Wednesday brings slightly milder conditions with highs in the mid 30s to near 40 degrees, though it remains well below normal for late December.
The extended forecast shows below-normal temperatures continuing through the end of the week and into the New Year.
Thursday may bring a chance of snow showers as a weak cold front passes through, though accumulations are expected to be light.
Friday looks dry with highs in the low to mid 30s.
Another weather system may impact the area late next weekend, potentially bringing a mix of rain and snow, though forecast confidence remains low for that timeframe.
Current weather radar
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One person was killed and another critically injured when two helicopters collided and crash-landed in Hammonton, New Jersey, on Sunday morning, authorities said.
The Hammonton Police Department told Fox News Digital that it received calls of an aviation crash at approximately 11:25 a.m. involving two helicopters in the area of the 100 block of Basin Road.
Police, fire and EMS responded, extinguishing one helicopter that was engulfed in flames.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have been notified and will investigate the crash, police said.
MIDAIR PLANE CRASH KILLS ONE PERSON NEAR COLORADO AIRPORT AS BOTH PLANES CATCH FIRE
Two helicopters collided Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Hammonton, N.J. (WTXF)
New Jersey Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way wrote on X that she has been updated on the midair collision.
The site of a deadly helicopter collision in Hammonton, N.J., on Dec. 28, 2025. (WTXF)
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“The Atlantic County Office of Emergency Management, Hammonton Police Department, and @NJSP personnel are on the scene,” she said.
This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.
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