The National Park Service has awarded Trenton’s Old Barracks Museum, which operates out of a 265-year-old historic building, a $750,000 semiquincentennial grant to restore the structure and replace the roof of the facility ahead of RevolutionNJ in 2026, a statewide commemoration marking the 250th anniversary of when the United States was founded.
The Old Barracks received the funding as part of the $10 million the National Park Service allocated to “20 cultural resource preservation projects across 14 states,” according to the press release.
New Jersey’s observation of the date, RevolutionNJ, is being organized in partnership with entities like the Crossroads of the American Revolution and the New Jersey Historical Commission.
“We are honored and excited to receive this grant, which will allow the Old Barracks Association to continue its tradition of stewardship and preservation with much needed improvements and repairs to the building,” Old Barracks Museum Executive Director Michelle Doherty says in a quote.
“The Semiquincentennial is an opportunity for the nation to recognize and reflect on the diverse cultures, events, and places that have helped shape our country,” NPS Director Chuck Sams adds.
While the Old Barracks has been a museum for over a century, its preservation would not have been possible without the members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Colonial Dames, who established the Old Barracks Association and raised money to purchase the building in the early 1900s.
As a key site in the history of the Revolutionary War, the press release continues, “the Trenton barracks were constructed in 1758 to house British soldiers during the French and Indian War, but [they] provided major assistance to the Continental Army following the Battles of Trenton by being converted into a military hospital by the command of George Washington to administer smallpox inoculations to American soldiers.”
Speaking to this history, the board president of the Old Barracks Association, Lisa Willever, says, “The Old Barracks is a Trenton gem that helps bring tourism to our capital city, and this grant is crucial in ensuring that it will continue to be able to receive visitors through the celebration and beyond.”
For more information, visit www.barracks.org.
