Preservation Maryland, in partnership with the Maryland Historical Trust, is happy to announce the spring round of Heritage Fund recipients. For over 20 years the Heritage Fund, administered by Preservation Maryland, has provided vital funds for preservation projects across the state.
Historic structures require significant repair and upkeep – but with routine maintenance the time and expense associated with those repairs can be substantially reduced. Equally important as maintaining the structure is making sure that those repairs are safe for historic buildings. Often, preservation-safe repairs cost the same or slightly more but can save property owners in the long-run. These preservation best practices are not a comprehensive or complete guide to every issue a property owner will confront but are a jumping off point for your next preservation project.
Handsell Historic Site, managed by the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance, now has a replica of the broken front door that once stood in the entryway of the home.
Hancock Main Street. Photo from Hancock Main Street.
Preservation Maryland and the Maryland Historical Trust are pleased to award over $50,000 in grant funds to several significant heritage tourism destinations, including Main Streets, open spaces, historic sites, and cultural attractions.
The statewide Heritage Fund grant program is one of few stable sources of preservation funding in Maryland – even in good times – and both organizations are thrilled to be able to continue making grant awards to hard-hit historic sites and museums throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Preservation maintenance work is essential to the ongoing stewardship of Maryland’s historic sites. Over the past two decades, this grant program has provided over $1.5 million dollars in direct funding to deserving preservation, conservation, and public history projects across the state.
Historic image of Bostwick in Bladensburg, MD.
Long-Term Reuse Plan for Bostwick
Organization: Aman Memorial Trust
Location: Prince George’s County
This $8,000 grant will help fund a collaborative planning process for Bostwick, a ca. 1746 National Register of Historic Places-listed home in Bladensburg near Hyattsville in Prince George’s County. While the property has long been used by the University of Maryland for faculty housing and hands-on preservation education, there is currently no long-term vision for the site. This Heritage Fund grant will support efforts to engage local and academic stakeholders to develop a long-term vision for the use of the site along with plans for engagement and interpretation.
Marble Lion Restoration at Cylburn Arboretum
Organization: Cylburn Arboretum Friends
Location: Baltimore City
The 19th Century Cylburn Mansion is situated in the 200-acre Cylburn Arboretum, a public park in Baltimore City. The four marble lions that reside on the east side and by the formal garden require professional cleaning and restoration. Debris has collected on the statues and is now threatening the integrity of the statues. This grant from the Heritage Fund will contribute $5,000 toward the cost of this expensive, but much needed maintenance and repair work.
Restoration of Retreat House Roof Dormers
Organization: Friends of Smallwood State Park
Location: Charles County
Among the many historic resources in Smallwood State Park is the Retreat House, the former home of General William Smallwood. The original home was constructed ca. 1760 with an extensive restoration and partial reconstruction completed in the 1950s. The six dormers on the Retreat House are in need of repairs to stop recurring leaking. The $8,000 grant from the Heritage Fund will support the repair restoration work on the dormers – needed repairs that will protect the exterior and interior for years to come.
Malones Church in Dorchester County, Maryland, 2017.
Malone’s Chapel Stabilization along the Harriet Tubman Byway
Organization: Harrisville/Malone Cemetery Maintenance Fund
Location: Dorchester County
Malone’s Chapel is a historic church built in the 1890s and associated with a much earlier free black community in Dorchester County dating back to the 1790s. A group of volunteer Trustees now maintain the church for tourism and interpretation along the Harriet Tubman Byway – and members of Harriet Tubman’s family are buried in the church’s cemetery. This $8,000 grant from the Heritage Fund will fund the restoration work of the chapel’s steeple. Previously, Preservation Maryland has worked with the Trustees to create measured architectural drawings of the church and to provide capacity building and strategic planning support.
William Brown House at London Town. Photo from Chesapeake Living.
Pandemic-Era Signage at Historic London Town and Gardens
Organization: London Town Foundation
Location: Anne Arundel County
The 23-acre living history museum, Historic London Town and Gardens, has adapted to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by canceling docent-led tours and limiting access to its museum while continuing to allow access to its waterfront property, trails, and gardens. This $5,000 Heritage Fund grant will address the immediate need for new outdoor signage for a self-directed visitor experience. New signage will provide a cost-effective way for the museum to safely convey visitors while still providing excellent interpretive information during the lockdown.
Hancock Main Street. Photo from Hancock Main Street.
Preservation Plan for the Town of Hancock
Organization: Main Street Hancock
Location: Washington County
The newly formed Main Street Hancock will soon undertake an inaugural Strategic Preservation Plan to guide their economic development, educational, and revitalization initiatives. This grant of $4,500 from the Heritage Fund will support hiring a consultant to engage community stakeholders, identify and document historic assets – and create a guiding document for Main Street Hancock. Hancock is one of Maryland’s nearly three dozen certified Main Street communities.
Restoring Handsell Entryway
Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance
Dorchester County
Handsell is a National Register-listed historic site associated with a Chicone Native American village, and later a large plantation. The organization intentionally interprets all layers of its history – from the Native cultures to those enslaved and working the antebellum plantation. This $7,000 grant from the Heritage Fund will fund the reproduction of a historically accurate front door for the main house. All efforts will be made to use original materials. Previously restoration efforts at Handsell have included preservation engineering, new cedar roofing, dormer repair, window repair along with regular maintenance and best-in-practice stewardship efforts.
Historic Landscape Report of the Glen at National Park Seminary
Save Our Seminary
Montgomery County
The National Park Seminary has a long and rich history as a tobacco plantation, summer inn, a school for girls – and today a unique residential community that has grown in and around the historic campus setting. The cultural landscape of the National Park Seminary now under study is known as “The Glen” and includes paths, statuary, architectural features, and natural elements. The Heritage Fund will provide $6,000 to support a feasibility study focused on the preservation of the Grand Staircase, Grotto hillside, and Spring Bridge – prominent historic landscape features of “The Glen.”
HERITAGE FUND IMPACT STATEMENT