Federal grant awarded to nonprofit to acquire land near Gettysburg National Park

The American Battlefield Trust, a nonprofit that preserves America’s battlegrounds, will acquire two tracts of land adjacent to Gettysburg National Park.

The nonprofit’s partner, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission was awarded $573,000 on Friday to acquire the land.

The announcement was made by U.S. Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt on Friday at Gettysburg National Park.

“Battlefields such as Gettysburg are sacred sites where Americans gave the last full measure of devotion,” Bernhardt said in a press release. “These grants enable us to partner with communities and organizations to preserve these places and connect visitors with their historical importance.”

Last year, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission received an ABPP grant of more than $400,000 to preserve 7.6 acres of the Gettysburg battlefield at the United Lutheran Seminary.

Federal oil and gas revenues from the Outer Continental Shelf provide the largest share of deposits into the Land Water Conservation Fund, which is the largest source of funding for American Battlefield Protection Program grants.

Officials from the American Battlefield Trust couldn’t be reached for comment.

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The Gettysburg grant was part of a number of grants across the country that were announced today totaling $3 million. Other grant recipients include:

Connecticut

$96,679 to the Fairfield Historical Society for the preservation of the Battle of Pequot Swamp, 1637.
$50,150 to the Ridgefield Historical Society for education and stewardship of the Battle of Ridgefield, 1777.

Florida

$206,890 to Florida State University for research of a site associated with the Apalachee Revolt of 1647.
$60,672 to the University of Florida Board of Trustees for research of battlefields associated with the 1614 Spanish Campaign against the Calusas.

Georgia

$116,247 to the Georgia Southern University Research & Service Foundation for research on two 1864 American Civil War skirmishes in Jenkins and Burke Counties.

Illinois

$93,220 to the Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University for research on Fort Henry, which was attacked by the Union Army in 1862.

Maryland

$67,100 to the Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities for research on the battle of St. George Island, 1776.
$78,000 to the Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities for development of the South Mountain Battlefield, 1862.

New Jersey

$104,410 to the Palisades Parks Conservancy planning on the Revolutionary War Fort Lee Historic Park.

Ohio

$99,286 to Ball State University for research on the battle of Pechuwe, 1780.

Tennessee

$137,775 to the City of Parkers Crossroads to protect a 0.55-acre tract of Parker’s Cross Roads Battlefield in Henderson County, 1862.
$259,446 to the City of Chattanooga to protect a 9.09-acre portion of the Wauhatchie Battlefield in Hamilton County, 1863.

Virginia

$1,053,650 to the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to fund the acquisition of a 76.11-acre portion of Bristoe Station Battlefield in Prince William County, 1862-1863.
$32,274 to the Palisades Parks Conservancy for the development of the Port Republic Battlefields, 1862.
$39,427 to the Clarke County Historic Preservation Commission for research of the Battle of Berryville, 1862.
$86,740 to the Friends of Cedar Mountain Battlefield for research on Racoon Ford, Morton’s Ford, and Sommerville Ford Battlefields, 1863-1864.

Vermont

$66,873 to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum at Basin Harbor, Inc. for research of the Arnold’s Bay Battlefield, 1776.

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