Stanton has been a vibrant community center for over three hundred years. Dutch settlers searching for religious freedom recognized the good farm land and settled down here. Their ancestors stayed and you can still meet people working on Stanton Holly Trail who can trace their acenstory back to the beginning of Stanton.

Today, Stanton is a sleepy residential village, but in its hey-day, Stanton was a center of commerce with a general store, a Dutch Reformed church, a sawmill, a feedmill, and a school that also housed a 1,000 book library. As the community grew, the Stanton Reformed church needed a larger sanctuary and Stanton Holly Trail was born of that necessity. In 1962 eight women from the village joined forces to raise money for the Stanton Reformed Church Building Fund. They decorated five of their own homes for Christmas with handmade crafts and ornaments and invited people to tour. They raised $300.

Today, over fifty years later, Stanton Holly Trail is comprised of a volunteer group of approximately 150 community women from several townships within Hunterdon County. These women, who come from a variety of backgrounds and interests, work together in teams to make Holly Trail happen. Some work on Holly Trail all year, some for months at a time, and some come in for extra support the day of the event. Each woman's contribution serves as a valuable piece of the fabric that makes up Holly Trail.

Stanton Holly Trail is a 501(c)3 charitable organization that not only raises much needed funds for worthy causes, it also provides an opportunity for volunteers to meet new friends, acquaint themselves with the area, learn decorating techniques, give of their talents and stimulate their creativity. In addition, generations of patrons have returned to make Holly Trail a family tradition as they begin their holiday festivities.