Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust are pleased to announce the newest grantees of the Heritage Fund grant program. The Heritage Fund is one of few stable sources of preservation funding in Maryland and has provided over $1.4 million dollars in direct funding to projects across the state.
The Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area received a Heritage Fund grant to craft a visitor experience plan for the historic Newcomer House on Antietam Battlefield. The historic 18th-century home served as a makeshift hospital during the battle and is now a visitor center for tourists exploring Western Maryland’s history and scenery.
Earlier this summer, the C&O Canal Trust reopened the historic Swains Lockhouse after a three-year rehabilitation project supported in part by the Heritage Fund grant program. The Lockhouse dates to ca. 1916 and now open to the public as part of their very popular Canal Quarters program.
Aberdeen Train Station, no date.
The Heritage Fund grant program is a cooperative effort of Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust. An important source of direct financial support for preservation projects since 1997, we’re pleased to announce grants totaling over $50,000 to the newest array of deserving projects across the state.
Organization: Aberdeen Room Archives and Museum, Inc.
Type: Bricks and Mortar
Project Name: Stabilization of B&O Railroad Station
Location: Aberdeen, Harford County
Description: The 1885 Frank Furness designed B&O Station and since then the station has played an important role in the area’s economic canning industry and helped moved troops and scientists to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds during the Korean War. The site is now in need of a new community purpose and the first step is to stabilize the structure while additional plans can be made for reuse. A $6,000 grant from the Heritage Fund will help support the stabilization work needed to protect the building from future deterioration. The total project cost is estimated at $90,000 and the organization has additional funds to complete this phase including from a state bond bill.
Organization: Catoctin Furnace Historical Society, Inc.
Type: Bricks and Mortar
Project: Historic Roof Replacement on the Museum of the Ironworker
Location: Thurmont, Frederick County
Description: In the industrial village of Catoctin Furnace, an 1820s workers cottage is being restored to become the Museum of the Ironworker. The finished museum will tell the story of the workers who worked on the iron forge at Catoctin Furnace from the 18th to early 20th centuries. The roof of the cottage suffered damage in a windstorm and further damage with the record rains this summer. The Heritage Fund will provide $8,000 for replacing the hand crimped standing seam roof on the cottage. The full project cost is $13,252 and is also supported with a grant from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority for the overall restoration of the site.
Organization: Community Projects of Havre de Grace
Type: Education and Research
Project: The Colored School Foundation Oral History Project
Location: Havre de Grace, Harford County
Description: The Havre de Grace Colored School was the first public high school for African Americans in Harford County. Built in 1910 as an elementary school, the structure was expanded over time to accommodate a high school. The site was recently purchased by the Colored School Foundation to preserve the stories and history of the school. As part of this effort, Community Projects of Havre de Grace will collect the oral histories from former students at the school or advocated for its development. A grant from the Heritage Fund of $3000 will support the collection and transcription of oral histories. The affiliated organizations continue to raise funding for the total project budget of $40,186 to film, edit, and release these stories.
Painting the Concord Point Keeper’s House
Organization: The Friends of Concord Point Lighthouse, Inc.
Type: Bricks and Mortar
Project: Painting the Concord Point Keeper’s House
Location: Havre de Grace, Harford County
Description: The ca. 1827 Concord Point Light Station was served by four generations of the family of John O’Neill, a local war hero from the War of 1812. After many changes over the 19th and 20th centuries, the Friends of the Concord Point Lighthouse restored the building to its 1884 appearance removing several modern additions. The keeper’s house is now in need of exterior and interior repairs including painting both to improve it aesthetically, but also to ensure its preservation. The Maryland Historical Trust holds easements on the Lighthouse and the Keeper’s House. The Heritage Fund will support the painting of the interior of the keeper’s house with a grant of $3500 towards a total project budget of $36,685. Additional funding was secured from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society, and private donations.
Organization: Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area
Type: Education and Research
Project Name: Newcomer House Visitor Experience Plan and Update
Location: Keedysville, Washington County
Description: The Newcomer House is a late 18th century house that now serves and an Exhibit and Visitor Center for the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area. Antietam National Battlefield will be undertaking a major restoration of their Battlefield Visitors Center, heightening the importance of the Newcomer House to serve as a resource for visitors to the Battlefield. A $8000 grant from the Heritage Fund will supplement additional support from Rural Maryland Councilhttps://rural.maryland.gov/, Visit Hagerstown, Antietam National Battlefield, and the National Park Service among others the help pay for the creation of a visitor experience plan and to create and fabricate new exhibits. The full project budget is $75,107.
City Dock in the Annapolis National Landmark District, 2017.
Organization: Historic Annapolis, Inc.
Type: Education and Research
Project Name: Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel
Location: Annapolis, Anne Arundel County
Located on the downtown Annapolis waterfront, City Dock is a vital part of the Colonial Annapolis National Register Historic District. Recently proposed rezoning threatens to undo the character of the historic waterfront. In response to this threat, the National Trust for Historic Preservation identified City Dock as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places for 2018. Preservation Maryland has joined efforts to invite the Urban Land Institute Baltimore (ULI) to conduct a Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) related to City Dock, which will bring in experts from across the country to provide strategic, multidisciplinary advice about land use and to offer further details of redevelopment alternatives. The TAP will build upon studies approved by the Annapolis City Council and will allow for a public conversation about the future of the historic City Dock. Historic Annapolis received $5,000 toward a total project budget of $20,000, joining the grantee and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Organization: London Town Foundation
Type: Education and Research
Project Name: William Brown House Restoration
Location: Edgewater, Anne Arundel County
Description: The circa 1760 William Brown House on the Historic London Town and Gardens historic sites is an active preservation rehabilitation and restoration project. A grant of $8,000 from the Heritage Fund will support the replacement of the West Door to the house which is deteriorating and has a poor seal. Historically, this door was a main entrance to the publik house and may return to that purpose as London Town continue their Restore the Bar campaign. The larger restoration project has a budget of $500,000 and is supported by Anne Arundel County, the State of Maryland, and individual donations.
Organization: Preservation Maryland
Type: Education and Research
Project Name: Raising Awareness on LGBTQ Historic Locations
Location: Statewide
Description: Preservation Maryland is leading a statewide effort known as the Maryland LGBTQ History Collaborative to identify and document places of importance to LGBTQ Marylanders and their contributions to society. Preservation Maryland will work with the University of Maryland on an education initiative to obtain first-person histories and to host a free public lecture by LGBTQ history expert, Susan Ferentinos, Ph.D. Lastly, the $7,000 grant will support an intern position at Preservation Maryland to gather, evaluate, and verify existing lists of LGBTQ sites throughout Maryland.
Organization: Westminster Preservation Trust
Type: Planning and Feasibility
Project Name: Preservation Plan for Westminster Burying Ground
Location: Baltimore City
Description: Westminster Burying Ground is most famous as the final resting place of Edgar Allan Poe and many others including Samuel Smith and Dr. James McHenry. Despite the renown of many of the 230-year-old burying ground’s interments, no comprehensive plan for the care of the markers and the site’s entrance has been performed. The Heritage Fund will support the Westminster Preservation Trust’s efforts with a $7,000 grant to perform the evaluation, which will serve a template for comprehensive restoration work of the $16,350 project supported by the Trust’s endowment.
The Heritage Fund, a cooperative effort of Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust, provides direct assistance for the protection of historical and cultural resources and promotes innovative demonstration projects that can be successfully replicated to meet Maryland’s historic preservation needs. The Fund is intended to serve the needs of tangible cultural resources in Maryland. Historic sites, buildings, districts, objects, and archaeological resources are all eligible for funding.