Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission provides funding for construction activities through its Keystone Historic Preservation Construction Grants with revenue from the Commonwealth’s Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund.
Donor Name: Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
State: Pennsylvania
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline:03/02/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
The purpose of the grant is to support projects that rehabilitate, restore, or preserve historic resources listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. These guidelines address only construction-related activities. Please review the separate guidelines for the Keystone Historic Preservation Planning Grants for information pertaining to the preservation planning projects.
Categories
Funding is available in the categories of:
- Preservation
- The act or process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity and materials of a historic property. Work, including preliminary measures to protect and stabilize the property, generally focuses upon the ongoing maintenance and repair of historic materials and features rather than extensive replacement and new construction. New exterior additions are not within the scope of this treatment but are subject to review if associated with the overall project; however, the limited and sensitive upgrading of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and other code required work to make properties functional is appropriate within a preservation project.
- Rehabilitation
- The act or process of making possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations and additions while preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural and architectural values.
- Restoration.
- The act or process of accurately depicting the form, features and character of a property as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of features from other periods in its history and reconstruction of missing features from the restoration period. The limited and sensitive upgrading of mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and other code related work to make properties functional is appropriate within a restoration project.
Funding Information
- Minimum Award $5,000
- Maximum Award $100,000.
Grant Period
24-month period.
Eligibility Criteria
Nonprofit organizations and public agencies that own or support a publicly accessible historic property listed, or eligible for listing, in the National Register of Historic Places, or that own or support a contributing historic property in a National Register Historic District may apply for grant assistance. Please check with the grant manager to confirm organizational eligibility.
- Certified Local Governments
- Colleges and Universities
- Conservancies
- Historic Preservation Organizations
- Historical Societies
- Local Governments
- Museums
- Religious Institutions
- Other historical organizations
- Museums and historic sites that are owned by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission but operated by independent nonprofit organizations.
- Multipurpose Organizations. Individual subunits (e.g. Moravian Pottery and Tile Works) within multipurpose government (e.g. County of Bucks) or tax-exempt organizations may apply for grants if they function as a discrete unit within the parent organization. A subunit that is part of a larger organization will be deemed eligible if:
- The unit has administrative autonomy for its operations;
- The unit has a fully segregated and itemized operating budget within that of the parent organization;
- The unit is able to separately and distinctly fulfill all eligibility and application requirements as defined in these guidelines.
- More than one qualified subunit within a multipurpose organization may apply for funding during the same grant cycle.
- Additional Eligibility Requirements
- To apply for a Keystone Historic Preservation Construction Grant, an organization must meet the following requirements:
- Must be located in Pennsylvania
- Must have tax-exempt status under the Internal Revenue Service or entity of local government;
- Must be incorporated and serving the public for at least five (5) consecutive years prior to the submission of the application; and
- Must be registered with the Pennsylvania Department of State: Bureau of Charitable Organizations(opens in a new tab), as required.
- To apply for a Keystone Historic Preservation Construction Grant, an organization must meet the following requirements:
For more information, visit PHMC.
