National Park Service awards $7 million in inaugural Semiquincentennial grant program - Grants to preserve historic sites related to the nation’s founding


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

























































































StateCityProjectsGranteeAward
ArizonaTubacRehabilitation of the Tubac Presidio State Historic ParkFriends of the Tubac Presidio and Museum, Inc.$121,000
ConnecticutGuilfordRehabilitation of the Henry Whitfield HouseConnecticut Department of Economic and Community Development$500,000
KentuckyTompkinsvilleRehabilitation of the Old Mulkey Meetinghouse State Historic SiteCommonwealth of Kentucky$180,000
MarylandAnnapolisJames Brice House Window RestorationHistoric Annapolis Foundation$500,000
MarylandThurmontStabilization of the Ironmaster’s Mansion at Catoctin FurnaceCatoctin Furnace Historical Society$314,000
MarylandThurmontRehabilitation of the Museum of the Ironworker at Catoctin FurnaceCatoctin Furnace Historical Society$291,000
MainePittstonRehabilitation of the Colburn House State Historic SiteMaine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry$500,000
New JerseyPrincetonRehabilitation of the Mansion and Grounds of MorvenHistoric Morven, Inc.$500,000
New JerseyHaddonfieldRehabilitation of the Indian King Tavern Building EnvelopeNew Jersey Department of Environmental Protection$500,000
New JerseySomervillePreservation of the Wallace House and Old Dutch ParsonageNew Jersey Department of Environmental Protection$500,000
New YorkYoungstownMasonry Preservation at Old Fort Niagara State Historic SiteNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation$500,000
North CarolinaRaleighPreservation of Colonial Brunswick TownNorth Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources$500,000
PennsylvaniaCheyneyRehabilitation of Melrose CottageCheyney University of Pennsylvania$500,000
Rhode IslandProvidenceExterior Preservation of the Governor Stephen Hopkins HouseExecutive Office of the State of Rhode Island$424,000
VirginiaBerryvilleRehabilitation of the Main House, Smoke House, and Spring House at Clermont FarmClermont Farm Foundation$472,000
VirginiaWhite MarshRehabilitation of the Timberneck House at Machicomoco State ParkFairfield Foundation, Inc.$500,000
WisconsinMadisonLizard Mound Site EnhancementsWisconsin 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 
visitnps.gov/stlpg/
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