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
Jersey Shore beach roped off to protect nesting birds just in time for Memorial Day weekend
They took them under their wing.
A large stretch of a Jersey Shore beach is roped off to protect a bird’s nest just in time for Memorial Day weekend.
A pair of American Oystercatchers made their home on the sand in Belmar — and New Jersey Fish and Wildlife is prohibiting beachgoers from trespassing in the area to protect them and their eggs, according to NJ Advance Media.
The agency erected signs at 7th Avenue Beach — one of the most popular spots in Belmar — that say “Do Not Enter,” and explain that the area is a nesting area for the shorebirds, which are protected under federal law.
The placards also warn that “harassing these birds, their eggs or their young” can incur a $50,000 fine or jail time.
The birds are not listed as endangered or threatened species in New Jersey, according to Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.
However, their status has been to changed to one of “special concern.”
Many on social media agreed with the agency’s efforts to protect the creatures, which are known for their black and white body and long orange-red bill.
“Love love love this!!!! Beautiful birds! One of my favorite!” one gushed.
“Leave that cute birdie alone people,” another added.
Others thought even more safety precautions were needed.
“We should send a biologist or conservation police to guard the area,” one wrote.
DEP officials told the outlet that the length of time the area would be closed will be determined by whether the chicks opt to remain there after hatching.
If the baby birds decide to relocate to another spot on the beach, that new area will be closed off instead, the agency added.
It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the Brooklyn Nets moved out of New Jersey.
The organization has completely revamped its vibe since switching states, ditching the red, white and blue look for a very basic black and white colorway.
The Nets have also intermittently changed the colors of the banners hanging up in the Barclays Center from red, white and blue to black and white, much to the chagrin of traditional Nets fans.
Despite the Nets now playing in a bigger market and being far removed from their days in the Garden State, some fans seem to hope for the Nets to make their return across the river. New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill was asked about the matter.
“I mean, would I support it? I ask about it all the time,” Sherrill said. “I love the idea. So, I have been pressing for that. I haven’t made a lot of headway yet; you know, maybe in my second 100 days.
“But I do think there is some work being done for some — I don’t know if I’m allowed to say too much about it — but some people are working on some different sports coming into the Rock.”
As time went on, the Nets eventually started to embrace more of their New Jersey roots, which started when they rocked a clean tie-dye jersey from the 90s during the 2020-21 season.
The next season, the Nets followed it up with uniforms commemorating their run in the 2000s, when the team got to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 and endlessly broke the ESPN top 10 with each crazy Jason Kidd assist and Vince Carter dunk.
It’s fitting that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the latter of whom grew up in New Jersey as a Nets fan, got to rock these uniforms, helping boost the popularity of the New Jersey brand to a wide array of fans.
True Nets fans embraced the Continental Airlines Arena/Izod Center and the swamps of East Rutherford, getting to witness a winning basketball team for a fraction of the cost of the team mired in dysfunction that happened to play their home games at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Not many marquee free agents would have signed up to play in New Jersey, but real fans remember the good times in the swamps, especially with Sly the Fox as the team’s mascot. Those times deserve to be remembered properly.
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ATLANTIC COUNTY, N.J. (WPVI) — Drivers heading to the shore on Friday afternoon saw slow-moving traffic for several miles coming off the Walt Whitman bridge, but many travelers said the start of the holiday weekend was smoother than they anticipated.
Aldara Madden, who was traveling with her friend Elana Maser, said the trip moved faster than she expected.
“I was expecting it to take a lot longer,” she said.
Maser added that they left school early to avoid delays.
“My mom and I do that every year and then we always stop here as our little pre-down the shore,” she said.
Others shared similar experiences.
“I’m coming from Bucks County, so I was worried there was gonna be some traffic but it really wasn’t bad at all,” said Erin McFadden of Churchville, who was headed to Ocean City.
AAA reported that while slightly more people are traveling by car this year compared to last, 2026 is projected to have the lowest year-over-year travel growth rate in more than a decade, excluding the steep drop seen in 2020 during the pandemic.
The organization attributes the slowdown largely to concerns over rising prices.
“Gas is ridiculously expensive and I think all the time before going anywhere these days,” said Debbie Maser of Philadelphia. “But this is our happy place and nothing can keep us away.”
A dreary weekend forecast may also be influencing travel patterns.
“I was thinking that, I wonder if there’ll be less congestion on the roads because of the weather,” said Kyra Wolin of Massachusetts. “It’s not looking to be too good this weekend with the rain.”
Still, many shore-bound travelers said tradition outweighs any concerns about rain or crowds.
“No not at all. You go down. You get it done,” said George Miller of Lansdale.
Eric Wolin of Massachusetts agreed: “Never, never. Margate’s a special place for us.”
As the unofficial start of summer begins, travelers said they remain committed to kicking off the season in their favorite spots, not letting rain, traffic, or high prices keep them away.
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