NJ Pinelands Commission among sites getting New Jersey Historic Trust preservation grants
Several South Jersey historical sites and nonprofits will receive grants to preserve, protect or promote their respective missions.
The New Jersey Historic Trust, part of the state Department of Consumer Affairs, announced more than $15 million in grant recommendations Sept. 28, the agency announced in a news release. A total of 65 entities statewide received funding in amounts ranging from a little over $6,300 to $750,000.
Three of the highest awards ($750,000 each) went to sites in Camden: The Benjamin Cooper House, a now-derelict North Camden building originally built in 1734 by a grandson of William Cooper, a founder of Camden; the Home Port Alliance at the Battleship New Jersey; and NJ Division of Parks and Forestry for a Walt Whitman Neighborhood project.
Camden County projects and sites in addition to the Benjamin Cooper House, Walt Whitman neighborhood and the Battleship New Jersey include:
Historical Society of Haddonfield and Greenfield Hall ($150,000);
and New Beginnings for a survey of Civil Rights sites in Camden ($99,789).
The Benjamin Cooper House was a tavern and stopover for travelers along the Delaware, who used ferries to go from Camden to Philadelphia, New York and other destinations. It will eventually become the American Revolution Museum of Southern New Jersey, and will also serve as a trailhead for the Camden County Greenway, a 33-mile bike, running and walking trail that would go from Camden to Winslow. Its target opening date is July 2026, in time for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
In March, the Benjamin Cooper House was awarded $500,000 from the federal Funding for the People Act; with the $750,000 Historic Trust grant, a total of $1.4 million has been raised toward the estimated $3 million needed to restore the building.
Lucy the Elephant, a well-known landmark in Margate, will receive $669,133 toward its preservation; last year, the National Park Service awarded a $500,000 grant toward the 150-year-old pachyderm's preservation, estimated to cost a total of $1.9 million. The Naval Air Station Wildwood Foundation received $473,780.
Other awards went to Shore-area destinations including:
Atlantic City Fire Station #4 ($50,000);
the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts at Emlen Physick Estate in Cape May ($61, 845);
Cape May Historical and Genealogical Society at John Holmes House ($7,014);
Cape May Point Science Center at St. Mary's by the Sea ($59,955);
and Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May ($88,415).
In Burlington County, the following grants were awarded:
Community House, Moorestown ($34,163);
New Jersey Pinelands Commission/Fenwick Manor in Pemberton Township ($31,387);
White Hill Mansion in Fieldsboro ($35,131);
Fernbrook Environmental Education Center in Chesterfield ($150,000);
and Sally Stretch Keen Library in the Vincentown Historic District, Southampton ($85,622).
The following grants were awarded to Cumberland County entities:
Millville Army Airfield Museum ($22,500);
and Cumberland County Historical Society/Greenwich Historic District ($11,750)
Phaedra Trethan has been a reporter and editor in South Jersey since 2007 and has covered Camden and surrounding areas since 2015, concentrating on issues relating to quality of life and social justice for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. She's called South Jersey home since 1971. Contact her with feedback, news tips or questions at ptrethan@gannettnj.com, on Twitter @By_Phaedra, or by phone at 856.486-2417.
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Lucy the Elephant gets $669K in funding from NJ Historic Trust
