The Hope and Sunrise Historical Society was founded in 1971. Thanks to the efforts of the energetic, young society, the Hope Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. After much fundraising, the Hope and Sunrise Historical and Mining Museum was opened in 1994. Soon, three gold mine buildings and an early U. S. Forest Service building were moved to the museum grounds. Hope’s oldest schoolhouse was donated to HSHS and restored on the museum grounds. A Quonset hut and second Forest Service guard station was added to the museum grounds. The society was instrumental in seeing a Sunrise memoir published and the Sunrise cemetery mapped and rehabilitated. The Sunrise City Historic Archaeological District earned National Register of Historic Places status in 1997. An archive is maintained at the museum, local history books are promoted, Turnagain Arm Gold Rush descendents are assisted, newsletters are produced, and programs on local history are presented every year.
