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.

Award Announcement: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/national-park-service-awards-7-million-in-inaugural-semiquincentennial-grant-program.htm

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

Learn more about NPS historic preservation programs and grants.