The Burlington County Commissioners approved distribution of $19,150 in local history grants to three organizations preserving and promoting the county’s history and historic sites.
The Bordentown Historical Society, the Westampton-based National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of New Jersey and the Pemberton Township Historic Trust were selected to receive grants under the second round of the county’s history grants program.
The three awards are in addition to the $58,711 in funding awarded to nine Burlington County organizations during the first round of grants announced earlier this year.
“Burlington County’s history is vitally important to us now and to future generations to come and these grants will aid organizations that are actively working to preserve historic sites and educate residents and visitors about their significance,” said Burlington County Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson. “The first and second round of funding amount to more than $77,000 in support for these organizations. It’s an investment in their work but also in Burlington County’s quality of life and the history that makes our county special.”
The grants are made possible by the New Jerey Historical Commission’s County History Partnership Program to assist existing and emerging local history organizations and other nonprofits. Funding can be used for a variety of purposes, including general operations, development of museum exhibits and support for specific history projects.
Among the second round grant recipients, the Bordentown Historical Society plans to use its $6,510 grant to restore and display an 1856 Thomas Hurley map of Bordentown City.
The National Society of Colonial Dames will receive $2,640 to support publication of an updated brochure booklet series on Henry Burr and his heirs, who owned the Peachfield estate in Westampton for more than 200 years before bequeathing it to the New Jersey society, the life of John Skene, a Scottish Quaker who founded the Peachfield estate, and Old Schoolhouse in Mount Holly, which was built in 1759 and believed to be the oldest surviving one-room schoolhouse in New Jersey.
The Pemberton Township Historic Trust will receive $10,000 to assist the organization with the preservation and archiving of materials, including hiring a part-time archivist. The grant will also support the preservation of an 1851 survey map of Jonathan R. Smith’s plantation in the Birmingham section of Pemberton Township.
“This funding amounts to record support that will help these organizations advance important preservation projects,” said Burlington County Commissioner Allison Eckel, liaison to the Department of Resource Conservation and Parks. “We’re proud to work with these groups to ensure Burlington County history is preserved for everyone to learn and become enriched by.”