Historic Preservation And Partnership Grants Awarded

From the Somerset County Government:

Post Date:11/15/2019

The Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders awarded 15 grants through the Historic Preservation and County History Partnership grant programs. Both programs are administered by the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission with assistance from county Planning Board staff. The total amount awarded was $1,159,083.

Previous Historic Preservation Grants helped make it possible for the Van Liew-Suydam house in Franklin, to be featured in an eight-episode miniseries on Apple TV that is based on Stephen King’s 2006 novel “Lisey’s Story,” starring Julianne Moore. Over the years, the Board of Chosen Freeholders has awarded over $300,000 in preservation grants for the house. Without this funding, the Van Liew-Suydam house wouldn’t have been in any condition to appear on television.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION GRANT PROGRAM

Historic Preservation grants are awarded to organizations for the rehabilitation, restoration or preservation of a historic site, including plans and reports, National Register of Historic Places nominations and historic markers. The total amount of 2019 Historic Preservation Grant funding awarded was $1,133,775. All 6 awardees in 2019 are listed on the State and/or National Register of Historic Places.

Grants were awarded to:

BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP
Lane-Voorhees House - $271,510
The grant will support stabilization work on the Lane-Voorhees House (formally known as the Lane-Brokaw House). George Washington visited the house in 1779 to pay his respects to the widow of John Brokaw, who was killed in the American Revolution.

HILLSBOROUGH TOWNSHIP
Van der Veer-Harris House - $298,780
The grant money will fund structural roof repairs and a new roof on the main section of the house. This 18th century dwelling, with significant Colonial Revival renovations, was home to the Van der Veer family and several generations of medical practitioners.

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP
Dirck Gulick House - $64,443
The Van Harlingen Historic Society will use the grant money to develop a conceptual landscape plan and county historic marker. The Dirck Gulick House is the headquarters of the Van Harlingen Historical Society and houses a local research library.

Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum - $326,461
The Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church is a one-room, rural African American church. Efforts are underway to adapt the building as a museum dedicated to the unique culture, experiences and contributions of the African American community of the Sourland Mountain Region. The grant money will be used towards restoration initiatives.

SOUTH BOUND BROOK BOROUGH
Abraham Staats House - $69,581
One of the finest buildings from the second phase of Dutch immigration and settlement in the Raritan Valley, the Abraham Staats house is an important Revolutionary War site that was visited by George Washington and several other historic figures. The borough will use the grant money to install an ADA-compliant interior wheelchair lift.

WARREN TOWNSHIP
Mt Bethel Baptist Meeting House - $103,000
This meeting house, constructed in 1786, and maintained by the Warren Township Historic Sites Committee, is one of the few 18th-century timber-frame meeting houses in New Jersey that retains much of its original character. Grant funds will be used to repair and repaint exterior wood elements, repair deteriorated plaster at the chimneys and to repaint interior plaster.

COUNTY HISTORY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM GRANT
The County History Partnership Program, created by the New Jersey Historical Commission, provides grants to local history organizations and other eligible nonprofit organizations for history projects, programs and services that benefit diverse public audiences. The total amount of 2020 CHPP funding awarded was $25,308.

Grants were awarded to:

Borough of Rocky Hill
Special Project Grant - $4,268
Funds will be utilized to help conserve two historic artifacts directly connected with the Borough: a 36-star “Grand Luminary” American flag circa 1865 and a large bell dated 1884.

Borough of South Bound Brook
Special Project Grant - $3,000
Funding will be used to improve ADA accessibility to the West Kitchen and Slave Quarters of the Abraham Staats House via a video which will relay the history of African American slaves at the house.

Bound Brook Revitalization Partnership
Special Project Grant - $1,500
Funds will be used to improve the “Battle and Brew” walking tour of Bound Brook which takes place during the annual Revolutionary War reenactment of the Battle of Bound Brook held each April.

Friends of the Abraham Staats Farmstead
General Operating Support Grant - $3,000
Funds will support the 2020 Lecture Series, “An Army at Middlebrook” which will highlight Somerset County’s role in the American Revolution.

Friends of the Kennedy Martin Stelle Farmstead
Special Project Grant - $3,000
Grant funding will be utilized to produce a short video highlighting the significance of the ownership, architectural and historical stories about the nearly 300 year old Kennedy Martin Stelle Farmstead.

Heritage Trail
General Operating Support Grant - $5,000
Funds will be used to create a long-term marketing plan and to improve ADA compliancy for the Van Horne House, an important Somerset County Revolutionary War site.

Somerset County Historical Society
General Operating Support Grant - $2,000
Funds will be used for general operating expenses and programing fees throughout the year.

Ukrainian History and Education Center
Special Project Grant - $1,800
Funds will be utilized to digitize, preserve and make accessible 12 reels of silent motion picture film related to Ukrainian American life in New Jersey.

Watchung Community Foundation
Special Project Grant - $1,740
Funds will be used for the next phase of the restoration of the “The Legend of Watchung” mural, formerly housed in the Sears Building on Route 22.

This press release was produced by the Somerset County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.