Harriet Tubman Museum of New Jersey

I surprised my history buff mom this weekend with tickets to the guided museum tour and it was beyond exceptional! The museum guide and staff were welcoming and very knowledgeable not only about Harriet Tubman but also the history of Cape May! Eloise gave us the warmest greeting the minute we walked in and our guide Crystal was one of the best if not best tour guide/narrator/story teller that captivated you from the beginning! She brought Harriet's story to life and had us participate in active roles as well as singing! When she tells you to take a cleansing breath before entering the history--it's a must! Powerful and poignant from beginning to end. Thank you for making our weekend special! Something we will never forget!

My museum bestie & I lucked out as we entered this beautiful gem of a museum thinking we would only be able to hang out for a short time -- well we walked right into the beginning of a tour that lasted well over an hour! I hate that I can't recall her name but she was fantastic at explaining the history & evolution of HT & all the others that were involved. She even offered to chat up with folks well after the museum close time had passed. I love my huge massive MET museum but can feel the history in these smaller places that NEED to remain open. So much history here -- bravo to all that helped to preserve this HT museum. Walked out nearly 90 mins later utterly in love!

I visited the museum Friday 9/25/25. The lady at the desk was very nice. She told me during times there is a guided tour of the museum or you can tour the museum on your own. The museum is very very small, everything is on one floor. The information thats in the museum was interesting. They are expanding the museum to have a second floor.

This is a small museum that packs a powerful punch. The front section on the history of African Americans in Cape May is informative, detailed and puts Cape May, New Jersey in its proper place as a town where black people could retain, rebuild and recreate their history and culture. The tour guide at the museum, Crystal, is an excellent performer, a knowledgeable educator, and a specialist in the storytelling of Harriet Tubman. She brings history alive by making you a part of it. So enjoy the show!

Don't expect a tour, or much about Tubman. . . So, we paid for a guided tour, as opposed to a self guided tour. Therefore, it was reasonable to expect that someone - presumably a guide - would take us on a tour of the house, and explain the history of the house and something about Harriet Tubman's life. There was no guide and no tour. At the start of the "tour", a large group of visitors was invited in to view some artifacts about the slave trade and the home. These were displayed in the front rooms of the home and were interesting and informative, though no one was present to add information or answer questions. This is where we were told to spend time while waiting for the "tour" to begin. At the start of the "tour", we were all brought into a room at the rear of the home. Once the seats were filled, it was standing room only for the rest of the group. We stood for over an hour listening to our "guide" talk about slavery, Cape May, and almost nothing at all about Harriet Tubman. In fact, because Tubman visited before the big fire in Cape May, very little is known about her activities there, or whether she ever actually stepped foot anywhere near this house. There were absolutely no visual aids or media used during the presentation, though there was a television hanging on the wall behind the speaker. It was borderline excruciating to stand in one spot to listen. Bottom line - this is NOT a guided tour, and has little to do with Harriet Tubman - and I paid a lot of money to find that out.

This museum is a must see in Cape May. Recommend purchasing guided tour tickets in advance online. The tour was highly interactive. I appreciate the community acknowledging and honoring Black history. This is a one floored museum. Cute cabin.

Take the guided tour with Cindy!! She was absolutely amazing! When I walked in I got lucky. The guided tour staring in just 20 minutes. The experience with Cindy as a guide moved me and inspired me in ways I did not expect. Cindy makes you learn about the remarkable life of Harriet Tubman in a very engaging way. Then if you ask her any question at all she answers with elaboration. This was such a meaningful way to spend an hour of my life ! If I had only visited the museum without the tour I wouldn’t have had such a profound experience.

Our family decided to “kill some time” before a Congress Hall Tour and wow! What a great way to do so. I never expected such an interactive tour from a tiny museum. What made this a great stop for our family? Ross! He taught us so much and engaged with both of my children making sure the visit was memorable. Ross’ natural candor for the Undergrand Railroad and Harriet Tubman’s personal life was impressive. I never knew how significant Cape May was for Black history. Do not miss out.

Small museum with so much rich history!! $15/pp to hear the hour-long presentation of Harriet Tubman, William Still, and Stephen Smith. Worth it!

My museum bestie & I lucked out as we entered this beautiful gem of a museum thinking we would only be able to hang out for a short time -- well we walked right into the beginning of a tour that lasted well over an hour! I hate that I can't recall her name but she was fantastic at explaining the history & evolution of HT & all the others that were involved. She even offered to chat up with folks well after the museum close time had passed. I love my huge massive MET museum but can feel the history in these smaller places that NEED to remain open. So much history here -- bravo to all that helped to preserve this HT museum. Walked out nearly 90 mins later utterly in love!

I love the small the intimate museum. There is a lot of information filled in this lovely space you don't realize that you're walking on history. First let's start with the basics. The building is nicely kept, clean inside, and, organized, and in a central location. Once inside, you are given a wonderful tour, and a lot of details known given in an entertaining and informative manner. A lot of things gone over you may believe you knew or understood but you get a different perspective and some added possibly unknown information. I love the information provided by two.guides. Remember to ask about the floor! Would I go again? Absolutely I'll be making a trip again when the weather is warmer.

I wish, oh I wish that I could give this museum 5 stars because the intentionality behind it is beautiful. Cape May has tons of history when it comes to the African American community and Harriet Tubman which you would never know by looking up their demographic data. So I was understandably, excited to visit this museum. I'm not sure how long it's been open but it appears to be relatively new and still getting settled into the space. It is small (which is totally fine) and mainly composed of quotes from the late Tubman. I was hoping that there would be more physical artifacts or evidence surrounding her time the town. Possibly having pictures of the headquarters she set up, artifacts that were there, anything more tangible than simple quotes on the wall would've been great to see. There are options to either do a self guided tour, or one with a tour guide which is essentially a sit down in the main museum area where you're essentially told about the information/quotes around you. The tour guide is awesome, he does present the information in an exciting way albeit it's still disappointing because there's not much there. To top it off there was a cardboard SONY television box in the main museum hall. Why? Who knows. It seems that they just got a TV but patrons don't need to see the cardboard box, especially in a space that's supposed to be honoring Harrier Tubman. I truly hope they find somewhere else to store it. All in all, if the museum is new and still "loading" I hope it can bring in more tangible history for patrons to see. If not, it is a bit disappointing. I did enjoy learning the bit that we did about her time in cape may. Personally. My favorite part about the museum was the timeline wall that dates a lot of the history of black people in Cape May. Although it's very disheartening, being able to learn about it in the space was informative.

Crystal was an absolutely amazing tour guide!!!! You don't get any better than her!! I would recommend this museum to everyone!!