NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Historical Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, has awarded 26 matching grants totaling over $1.1 million from the Federal Historic Preservation Fund to non-profits, local governments, universities, and civic organizations across the state to support the preservation of historic and archaeological resources.
Among the projects approved was one for Henry County: $24,000 for Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church balcony and interior restoration in Paris.
“We are pleased to be able to provide Historic Preservation Fund grants that will help document and restore the important places that make our state so unique. The Federal Historic Preservation Fund grant program allows the Tennessee Historical Commission to make tangible progress in the preservation and study of our state’s treasured historic places,” said Patrick McIntyre Executive Director and Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer. The Federal Historic Preservation Fund reimburses 60 percent of the project costs with a 40 percent match of project funds from the grantee.
This year’s grant awards include a wide variety of historic and architectural projects. Several will continue work on projects that have already seen much investment from local communities including grants that will help complete the Old Jail restoration by the Claiborne County Historical Society in Tazewell and continue work on the Powell Law Office restoration in Rogersville. Other grants will assist in funding preservation planners in six of the state’s development districts, in facilitating archaeological surveys in our state parks, and a preservation plan for Chattanooga and Hamilton County. Several other grants are for restoration projects, for posters highlighting the state’s archaeology, and for training historic zoning staff or commissioners.
One of the agency’s grant priorities is for projects that are in Certified Local Governments, a program that allows the 51 enrolled communities to participate closely in the federal program of historic preservation. Certified Local Government communities are highly encouraged to apply, and for this round each CLG community that applied was funded including a grant to the City of Elizabethton for their former U.S. Post Office window restoration project and the City of Cleveland for their Cherokee Hotel restoration.
Additional priorities include those that meet the goals and objectives of the Tennessee Historical Commission’s plan for historic preservation. Properties that use the grant funds for restoration projects must be listed in the National Register.
A complete list of grant recipients and/or National Register listed sites of the projects include:
Claiborne County
Claiborne County Historical Society
$13,800 for Old Jail final exterior restoration
Hamblen County
Friends of Bethesda Cemetery
$25,000 to stabilize the Bethesda Presbyterian Church
Bradley County
City of Cleveland
$75,000 to restore Cherokee Hotel Lobby
Carter County
City of Elizabethton
$60,000 U.S. Post Office Window restoration
Davidson County
Metropolitan Historical Commission
$3,750 Dendrochronology research
Andrew Jackson Foundation
Tennessee Historical Commission Press Office
$21,000 to restore First Hermitage Farmhouse and Kitchen Exterior
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art
$35,0000 to fund Phase 1 Window Restoration Project
Dickson County
Montgomery Bell State Park
$10,000.00 for Laurel Furnace Worker’s Cemetery archaeology analysis
Franklin County
The Museum of Power and Industry, Inc.
$40,000 to restore interior of Lucas House
Hamilton County
Preserve Chattanooga, Inc.
$48,000 for Preservation Plan for Chattanooga and Hamilton County
Henry County
Quinn Chapel AME Church
$24,000 for Quinn Chapel balcony and interior restoration
Humphreys County
Johnsonville State Historic Area
$37,000 archaeology analysis Four Cemeteries and Church Site
Jefferson County
Hopewell Presbyterian Church
$45,000 for Hopewell Presbyterian Church window restoration
Knox County
Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum
$45,000 for Howell House steel lintel and masonry restoration
Loudon County
City of Loudon
$54,000 for Historic Resource Survey of Loudon
Shelby County
Historic Clayborn Temple
$60,000 for South Memphis Survey
Memphis and Shelby County Office of Planning and Development
$9,150 to fund Technical Preservation Training and Workshops
Multi-County Grants
Middle Tennessee State University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
$8,000 for posters for Tennessee Archaeology Week for next two years
Middle Tennessee State University, Fullerton Laboratory for Spatial Technology
$136,000 GIS services for historic/architectural survey for next two years
Tennessee Division of Archaeology
$111,000 for Review and Compliance
East Tennessee Development District
$60,000 to fund a preservation specialist staff position for the East Tennessee Development District
First Tennessee Development District
$43,500 to fund a preservation specialist staff position for the First Tennessee Development District
Northwest Tennessee Development District
$38,500 to fund a preservation specialist staff position for the Northwest Tennessee Development District
Southeast Tennessee Development District
$54,000 to fund a preservation specialist staff position for the Southeast Tennessee Development District
Southwest Tennessee Development District
$40,000 to fund a preservation specialist staff position for the Southwest Tennessee Development District
Upper Cumberland Development District
$40,000 to fund a preservation specialist staff position for the Upper Cumberland Development District
For more information about the Tennessee Historical Commission, please visit the website. For information on grants, contact Holly Barnett at holly.m.barnett@tn.gov.
Photo: Quinn Chapel AME Church in the sunlight. Shannon McFarlin photo.