National Park Service awards $7 million in inaugural Semiquincentennial grant program - Grants to preserve historic sites related to the nation’s founding
22/08/22 15:36
Contact: NewsMedia@nps.gov
WASHINGTON – The National Park Service (NPS) today awarded $7 million in the inaugural round of funding for the Semiquincentennial Grant Program commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. Created by Congress in 2020 and funded through the Historic Preservation Fund, this round of grants will support 17 cultural resource preservation projects across 12 states.
“National parks and National Park Service programs serve to tell authentic and complete history, provide opportunities for exploring the legacies that impact us today and contribute to healing and understanding,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “Through the Semiquincentennial Grant Program, we are supporting projects that showcase the many places and stories that contributed to the evolution of the American experience.”
The first round of grants from this program will support projects like:
The rehabilitation of the Colburn House in Pittston, Maine. Major Colburn worked with local Indigenous leaders and colonists to map a water trail route and quickly construct small boats for Benedict Arnold’s campaign to seize Quebec in 1775.
The Catoctin Furnace in Thurmont, Maryland will receive a grant to upgrade the HVAC system in the Museum of the Ironworker, where stories and artifacts related to early industry and labor, both free and enslaved, are interpreted to the public.
In Wisconsin, Lizard Mound State Park will receive a grant to remove invasive trees and reroute walking trails on a 20-acre site containing 28 ceremonial mounds constructed between 750 and 1250 AD.
Semiquincentennial Grant Recipients
| State | City | Projects | Grantee | Award |
| Arizona | Tubac | Rehabilitation of the Tubac Presidio State Historic Park | Friends of the Tubac Presidio and Museum, Inc. | $121,000 |
| Connecticut | Guilford | Rehabilitation of the Henry Whitfield House | Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development | $500,000 |
| Kentucky | Tompkinsville | Rehabilitation of the Old Mulkey Meetinghouse State Historic Site | Commonwealth of Kentucky | $180,000 |
| Maryland | Annapolis | James Brice House Window Restoration | Historic Annapolis Foundation | $500,000 |
| Maryland | Thurmont | Stabilization of the Ironmaster’s Mansion at Catoctin Furnace | Catoctin Furnace Historical Society | $314,000 |
| Maryland | Thurmont | Rehabilitation of the Museum of the Ironworker at Catoctin Furnace | Catoctin Furnace Historical Society | $291,000 |
| Maine | Pittston | Rehabilitation of the Colburn House State Historic Site | Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry | $500,000 |
| New Jersey | Princeton | Rehabilitation of the Mansion and Grounds of Morven | Historic Morven, Inc. | $500,000 |
| New Jersey | Haddonfield | Rehabilitation of the Indian King Tavern Building Envelope | New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection | $500,000 |
| New Jersey | Somerville | Preservation of the Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage | New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection | $500,000 |
| New York | Youngstown | Masonry Preservation at Old Fort Niagara State Historic Site | New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation | $500,000 |
| North Carolina | Raleigh | Preservation of Colonial Brunswick Town | North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources | $500,000 |
| Pennsylvania | Cheyney | Rehabilitation of Melrose Cottage | Cheyney University of Pennsylvania | $500,000 |
| Rhode Island | Providence | Exterior Preservation of the Governor Stephen Hopkins House | Executive Office of the State of Rhode Island | $424,000 |
| Virginia | Berryville | Rehabilitation of the Main House, Smoke House, and Spring House at Clermont Farm | Clermont Farm Foundation | $472,000 |
| Virginia | White Marsh | Rehabilitation of the Timberneck House at Machicomoco State Park | Fairfield Foundation, Inc. | $500,000 |
| Wisconsin | Madison | Lizard Mound Site Enhancements | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | $290,000 |
Congress appropriated funding for the Semiquincentennial Grant Program in FY2021 through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF). The HPF uses revenue from federal oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf, assisting with a broad range of preservation projects without expending tax dollars, with the intent to mitigate the loss of a nonrenewable resource to benefit the preservation of other irreplaceable resources.
Established in 1977, the HPF is authorized at $150 million per year through 2023 and has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Administered by the NPS, HPF funds may be appropriated by Congress to support a variety of historic preservation projects to help preserve the nation’s cultural resources.
For more information about NPS historic preservation programs and grants, please visit nps.gov/stlpg/
END