Chester County Getting $90K For Battlefield Preservation

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — The National Park Service announced $1.17 million in Battlefield Preservation Planning Grants for 16 battlefields across 10 states. Grants will help preserve endangered battlefields representing more than 500 years of American history. Historians and preservationists will use these funds to assist in research, documentation, and interpretive planning.

Among the recipients was Chester County.

The county got $90,000 for preservation efforts.

“As the nation’s steward of history, the National Park Service seeks to preserve and interpret all Americans’ stories, from the lesser known battles of the Spanish contact period to critical actions during World War II,” National Park Service Deputy Director P. Daniel Smith said.

Examples of this year’s grant projects

• North Carolina’s Department of Cultural Resources: Research to increase understanding of the impact the United States Colored Troops had on 20 battlefields throughout the state.
• University of Wisconsin: Digitize historic documents, photographs, and maps to help develop a website dedicated to the events at Battle Hallow. One of the largest recorded battles between the Dakota and Ojibwe, this battle was part of a larger struggle to secure dominance in the fur trade.
• Research Foundation for the State University of New York: Conduct historic research and use GIS to identify and map key locations and terrain covered during the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Oneida Castle. Part of a larger Loyalist campaign against Patriot settlements in New York, British forces - lead by Joseph Brant - attacked the town in an attempt to convince the Oneida to break their alliance with the United States.

The American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) is one of more than a dozen programs administered by the National Park Service that provide states and local communities technical assistance, recognition, and funding to help preserve their own history and create close-to-home educational and recreational opportunities.

Federal, tribal, state, and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education are eligible for these annual grants.

Since 1996, the ABPP has awarded 620 grant awards totaling $21,836,432.84 to help preserve significant historic battlefields associated with wars on American soil.

Learn more about the ABPP and grant opportunities on the National Parks Service website here.