Fund a Preservation Project

Preservation projects include a wide range of activities from bricks-and-mortar rehabilitation to neighborhood surveys and documentation efforts.

Funding a preservation project often requires a complex combination of public and private dollars. Listed on this page are the funding opportunities administered by the National Park Service. Additional funding sources include other federal agencies, state, and tribal historic preservation offices, private foundations, and community development organizations.

Historic tax credits have been available for more than 35 years and have been used by more than 40,000 projects.

Tax Credits

The Federal Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit is a 20% federal income tax credit for the rehabilitation of historic income-producing buildings. It provides an incentive to private developers to preserve historic properties and often close a financial gap necessary to make projects a reality.

Historic Preservation Fund

The Historic Preservation Fund supports a variety of projects in communities across the United States through grants for technical assistance and capacity building in state governments, local governments, and tribal governments. We directly fund projects in support of historic places in communities in more than 170 recognized tribes, all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the territories, the Freely Associated States, and almost 2,000 localities. Our work supports historic properties and place-based identity, key components to the social and economic vitality of our communities.

Explore more about the Historic Preservation Fund and the grant programs we administer that fund a wide variety of preservation projects.

Tribal heritage grants fund a wide variety of activities from historic building repair to programs that preserve traditional cultural practices.

NPS/ Tribal Heritage Grant Files

Historic Preservation Fund Grant Programs

• State Historic Preservation Office grants
• Tribal Historic Preservation Office grants
• Tribal Heritage grants
• Disaster Recovery grants
• Underrepresented Community grants
• Historically Black Colleges & Universities grants
• African American Civil Rights grants
• Save America's Treasures

Visit the State, Tribal, Local Plans & Grants Division website to learn more about these Historic Preservation Fund grants, including information on how to apply, funding limitations, and past grant recipients.

Resource Preservation Grants

Several programs that focus on specific historic and cultural resource types offer grants.

Battlefield Planning grants: Awarded to groups, institutions, organizations, or governments sponsoring preservation projects at historic battlefields. Any battlefield on American soil is eligible for this grant.

Battlefield Land Acquisition grants: Awarded to state and local governments for acquisition of eligible Civil War battlefield land and for the acquisition of permanent, protective interests (easements) in Civil War battlefield land.

NAGPRA grants: Grants for consultation and documentation as well as repatriation activities for Native American cultural items, including human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.

National Maritime Heritage grants: Grants for education and preservation projects related to historic maritime resources.

Research and Technology Grants

Preservation Technology and Training grants are available to undertake innovative research or determine ways to adapt existing technology with the goal of providing solutions to national needs in the field of historic preservation.

A Maritime Heritage grant recipient Balclutha moored along Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco, California.

NPS/ San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park