The first settler into Hope was Peter Warbass who came from Bethlehem to establish a Moravian settlement in 1769. The settlement was first named Greenland in honor of Samuel Green, a pioneer who entertained the Moravian missionaries on their trips here to baptize and preach to the Indians of the area.

The Moravians started new industries, introducing new trades, such as tanning, pottery making, and the making of woolen cloth. They built a distillery and a brewery. All of these enterprises were abandoned when they left in 1808, and the township developed into an agricultural area.

The grist mill which was the basis of the Moravian economy, kept the farmers of the area supplied with flour. During the Revolutionary War it was one of the New Jersey mills supplying Washington's Army at Morristown.