Delaware Preservation Fund

DELAWARE PRESERVATION FUND ANNOUNCES 20 GRANT AWARDS TO PRESERVE HISTORIC PLACES

Continuing its 24-year program of supporting Delaware’s historic property owners, the Delaware Preservation Fund (DPF) recently announced 20 grant awards totaling $86,272 for sites in New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties. Funded projects for 2025 included 12 historic houses, an opera house, a school, a church, a theater, an art studio, a masonic hall, a city hall and a mill building. Eleven of the funded projects are in New Castle County, five are in Kent County, and four projects are in Sussex County. Private homeowners, as well as nonprofit organizations, and city governments received funding.

Jeremy Rothwell, the President of the Fund’s Board of Directors, points out that the organization was able to make a larger impact this year due to a generous contribution of $25,000 to support projects in New Castle County given by Matt Meyer, then County Executive, as well as $10,000 from the Kent County Levy Court. Rothwell said “It is great to have buy-in on historic preservation projects from our county governments. With their help this year we were able to fund about seven additional preservation projects!” The Fund received 26 qualified applications for the 2025 grant program, the majority of which were selected for funding.

One of the managers of the program, Catherine Morrissey, of the Center for Historic Architecture and Design (CHAD) at the University of Delaware, notes that even small grants like those issued by the Delaware Preservation Fund can make a huge difference. So many of the applicants are paying for major repairs to some of Delaware’s most historic places, like the Parson Thorne Mansion (Kent County) or the Cannon-Maston House (Sussex County), out of pocket, and these grant funds help make their preservation efforts possible.

While the Delaware Preservation Fund has historically supported physical, bricks-and-mortar type projects, such as new roofs, porch restorations, and masonry repairs, it has also recently begun considering applications for preservation planning projects. Over 25 percent of this year’s recipients received funds to undertake preservation planning projects. One award was given to help support efforts to list an eighteenth-century house located in Sussex County on the National Register of Historic Places. The Fund has made three awards in past funding cycles to support National Register listings, and all three buildings were listed!

The DPF will begin accepting applications for its 2026 grant cycle in late fall, likely with a submission deadline in March of 2026.

For questions concerning the DPF grants, please EMAIL the Fund.

Top left: Charles Thomas House / Immanuel Parish House (New Castle)

Top Middle: Woodside (Middletown)

Top Right: The Judges House (Georgetown)

Middle Left: White House (Long Neck)

Middle Right: Fort DuPont War Department Theater (Delaware City)

Bottom Left: The Grand Opera House (Wilmington)

Bottom Right: Parson Thorne Mansion (Milford)

About the Delaware Preservation Fund

The Delaware Preservation Fund provides small grants to owners of historic properties, supporting both physical restoration and preservation planning. The Delaware Preservation Fund was created by Preservation Delaware in 2000, with seed money generously provided by the Delaware General Assembly and the Longwood and Welfare Foundations.

The mission of the Delaware Preservation Fund is to assist in the preservation of the architectural heritage and the historic built environment of Delaware, through financial assistance to owners of historic properties.

The Fund’s programs target impactful work that preserves the historic character of buildings individually listed on (or eligible for) the National Register of Historic Places, or that are contributing elements in a designated National Register historic district, or that are recognized / considered eligible for local government designation. Historic resources such as cemeteries, ships, fountains, statuary, or railroad cars that may be listed individually, or which contribute to local or National Register historic districts, also qualify for consideration. Grant applications for preservation planning activities are also now eligible for consideration, including architectural/engineering planning or National Register nominations.

All work funded by the Delaware Preservation Fund must comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, including preservation, restoration, or rehabilitation activities.

All assistance is available regardless of an applicant’s race, age, religion, gender, origin, disability, or familial status.

Delaware Preservation Fund, Inc

Board of Directors

Jeremy Rothwell (President), Smyrna Senior Planner

Dan Parsons (Secretary), Sussex County Preservation Planner

Michael McGrath (Treasurer), Preservation Delaware

Mark Chura, Principal, Chura & Associates

Abdullah Muhammad, Historian/Preservation Delaware Board of Directors

Spencer B. Price, Delaware Office of Management & Budget

Victoria Brennan, Office of the Controller General

C Russell McCabe, II, Governor’s representative

Kevin Barni, New Castle County Preservation Planner

For more information, please email DPF@PreservationDE.org