Preservation Maryland

The ca. 1800 Saylor House in Hagerstown, MD. Photo from the Washington County Historical Trust.

Heritage Fund Recipient: Where Are They Now? (Part 2)

04/19/2023
By Dana Cohen

The Heritage Fund grant program has provided vital funds for preservation projects across Maryland for decades. Before announcing the FY23 recipients in the coming weeks, Preservation Maryland is again sharing the progress of a past Heritage Fund project. Washington County Historical Trust’s Saylor House, a c. 1800 stone structure that played an important role in the Antietam Fish Company, one of America’s first documented fish conservation and stocking companies in the 1820s, has recently seen restoration of its kitchen, breezeway, and the stairs.

A 2020 Heritage Fund recipient, the Saylor House is situated on the banks of the Antietam River in present-day Kiwanis Park, and applied for funding to restore pieces of the structure to serve as a venue for education classes on historic building trades, historic buildings of Washington County, archaeology, outdoor recreation, and numerous environmental education topics. In 2019, the Washington County Historical Trust hosted several hands-on preservation training workshops at the Saylor House.

The Saylor House front porch

In 2021 the front porch was completed and throughout 2022, engaging the services of Restorations Unlimited, the Trust restored the kitchen, breezeway, and the stairs to the backdoor and basement. This perfect-to-period kitchen is now almost ready for lectures, workshops, and events.

Through a variety of grants, the Trust was about to restore the kitchen, breezeway, chimneys, summer beam, soffit/fascia/gutters, and put on a new standing seam roof. This work will continue this spring, so watch for the coming changes!

Nine individuals participated in a lime plastering historic building trades workshop to repair and replaster the kitchen walls – Preservation Maryland and our program, The Campaign for Historic Trades, is thrilled to see more hands-on trades training in the field! 

Lectures and events will continue this season, beginning with an Open House on May 9th, 10-2, Washington County Gives Day. 

Keep an eye on our social media and here on the blog for more information about our 2023 Heritage Fund recipients and updated on other past projects.

Heritage Fund: Where are they Now (part 1)