PT Announces 15 Finalists for the Texas Rural African-American Heritage Grants Program
Preservation Texas has announced that fifteen Black history sites will be invited to submit proposals for preservation funding from its new $750,000 Texas Rural African-American Heritage Grants Fund. The fifteen projects include historic churches, schools, lodge halls, and a commercial building, each with unique preservation challenges.
“Preservation Texas developed this grant program to support the needs of endangered rural African-American historic places,” said Evan Thompson, executive director. “We saw a critical need for funding and expertise to be able to save some of the most imperiled historic resources in our state.”
Funding for the program is being provided by the National Park Service through the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants Program. Eligible sites must be located in rural communities (places with fewer than 50,000 residents) and listed on the National Register of Historic Places; funding is to be used to restore or repair historic elements of physically endangered buildings. Two of the finalist sites are already listed on the National Register of Historic Places; all of the other finalists have been determined eligible for the National Register by the Texas Historical Commission.
The maximum grant award is $75,000 per project, however, not all finalists are guaranteed to receive funding and grant awards will vary depending on the project. “The need is overwhelming, and funding requests far exceeded what we have available,” said Thompson. Final selections for grant funding will be made by Preservation Texas during National Historic Preservation Month in May 2022. All projects are to be completed by the fall of 2024.
Finalists for the Texas Rural African-American Heritage Grants Program are:
Old Masonic Hall (1901) in Lufkin (Angelina County)
Mount Vernon A.M.E. Church (1921) in Palestine (Anderson County)
Bethel Baptist Church (c. 1919) in Tennessee Colony (Anderson County)
Mount Zion United Methodist Church (1893) in Belton (Bell County)
Steele Creek Baptist Church (1879) in Morgan (Bosque County)
Jamison-Thompson-Weatherford Building (1930) in Texarkana (Bowie County)
Ethiopian Star Lodge No. 308 (c. 1909) in Dabney Hill (Burleson County)
Macedonia School Rock Building (1939) in Linden (Cass County)
Daule School (1948) in Cuero (DeWitt County)
Canaan Missionary Baptist Church (1939) in Canaan (Harrison County)
Palacios Colored School (1939) in Palacios (Matagorda County)
Wesley Chapel (1916) in Corsicana (Navarro County)
First Independent Baptist Church (1918) in Corsicana (Navarro County)
Concord Rosenwald School (1925) in Concord (Rusk County)
Brenham Normal and Industrial College (c. 1900) in Brenham (Washington County)
