News Release

National Park Service awards $10 million in funding in Semiquincentennial grants

Viets’ Tavern, in East Granby, Connecticut, part of the Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine and the first state prison in North America, helps tell the story of the incarcerated population before 1800 and the role of incarceration in our nation’s founding

Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development

News Release Date: July 13, 2023

Contact: [e-mail]

WASHINGTON – The National Park Service (NPS) awarded $10 million today in the second round of funding from 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 (HPF), this round of grants will support 20 cultural resource preservation projects across 14 states.  

“The Semiquincentennial is an opportunity for the nation to recognize and reflect on the diverse cultures, events, and places that have helped shape our country,” said NPS Director Chuck Sams. “Through the Semiquincentennial Grant Program, the National Park Service is supporting projects that showcase the many places and stories that contributed to the evolution of the American experience.”  

This year’s grants will support projects like: 

• Rehabilitation of Viets’ Tavern in East Granby, Connecticut. Captain John Viets, appointed warden of the Old Newgate Prison in 1773, built the tavern in 1755 less than ten yards from the front gate of the prison. Much like other taverns of the time, it was an important place for political exchange in the community. Preserving Viet’s Tavern will tell a more complete history of the United States by focusing on the role of incarceration in the founding of our nation and the incarcerated population before 1800. 

• Rehabilitation of Ephrata Cloister in Ephrata, Pennsylvania. German immigrants fleeing religious persecution in Europe founded the community of Ephrata Cloister in 1732 where they practiced a lifestyle of discipline and self-deprivation. Grant funds will support the preservation of this architecture through the rehabilitation of exterior components on six of the 18th century buildings including the repair, replacement and protective finish of hand-hewn wood siding and side-lap shingle roofs. Grant funds will also support updates to the National Historic Landmark documentation for the property. 

• Pre-preservation planning for Pictograph Cave State Park in Billings, Montana. Recent radiocarbon dating suggests the oldest deposits within the caves date to approximately 4,000 years ago, and that they were frequently occupied by Native people into the late 1700s. Within Pictograph Cave are more than 100 elaborate painted figures, one of which was dated to 2,145 years B.C., making it one of the oldest motifs recorded on the Northern Plains. This grant will support pre-preservation work, including a condition assessment, mitigation planning, and creation of a site plan.  

Below is a full list of the projects and grant recipients for the second round of funding for the Semiquincentennial Grant Program.  

Awards 

Location	Project	Grantee	Award
Connecticut,  East Granby	Rehabilitation of Viets’ Tavern	Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development	$750,000
Delaware,  Newark	Rehabilitation of Cooch’s Bridge Historic Site	Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs	$800,000
Iowa,  Larchwood	Preservation of Blood Run	State Historical Society of Iowa	$77,096
Massachusetts,   Plymouth	Preservation of the National Monument to the Forefathers	Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation	$750,000
Maryland,  Havre De Grace	Rehabilitation of Rock Run Mill	Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities, Inc.	$747,216
Maryland,  Frederick	Preservation of the Hessian Barracks	Maryland State Department of Education	$750,000
Montana,  Billings	Pre-Preservation Planning for Pictograph Cave State Park	Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, & Parks	$75,000
North Carolina,  Sanford	Rehabilitation of the House in the Horseshoe	North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources	$444,926
New Jersey,  Trenton	Preservation of the Old Barracks	Old Barracks Association	$750,000
New York,  Kingston	Rehabilitation of the Senate House State Historic Site	New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation	$750,000
Pennsylvania,   Ephrata	Rehabilitation of Ephrata Cloister	Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission	$488,816
Pennsylvania,  Washington Crossing	Rehabilitation of the McConkey Ferry Inn at Washington’s Crossing	Friends of Washington Crossing Park	$502,768
Pennsylvania,  Chester	Rehabilitation of the 1724 Chester Courthouse	Delaware County, Pennsylvania	$522,872
Rhode Island,  Providence	Rehabilitation of the Old State House and Parade	Executive Office of State of Rhode Island	$750,000
Virginia,  Yorktown	Remote Sensing Survey of Selected Areas of the Submerged Siege of Yorktown Battlefield	Virginia Department of Historic Resources	$75,000
Virginia,  Fort Monroe	Fort George Resource Protection Survey at Fort Monroe	Fort Monroe Authority	$75,000
Virginia,   Hayes	Rehabilitation of the Timberneck House at Machicomoco State Park, Phase II	Fairfield Foundation of Virginia	$180,265
Virginia,  Lancaster	Rehabilitation of Belle Isle Manor House	Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation	$794,499
Vermont,   Windsor	Rehabilitation of the Old Constitution House	State of Vermont Division for Historic Preservation	$409,960
Wisconsin,  Jefferson	Protection and Enhancement for Aztalan State Park	Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources	$306,582
14 States		Total	$10,000,000.00

Established in 1977 and authorized at $150 million per year through 2023, the HPF has provided more than $2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, Tribes, local governments, and nonprofit organizations. Administered by the NPS, Congress may appropriate HPF funds 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/. 

www.nps.gov 

About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 424 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.