Dane Powder House Receives Heritage Grant

Beverly, MA - A grant from the Essex National Heritage Commission will help with the restoration of the Nathan Dane powder house in Beverly.

The Essex National Heritage Commission (Essex Heritage), in keeping with its long tradition of supporting the region’s unique cultural heritage, announced the 2016 Essex Heritage Partnership Grant Program recipients at the Commission’s Spring Meeting in Newburyport on April 14. Over the next year, the 20 grant recipients will be working to implement a diverse range of educational, interpretive, and preservation projects throughout Boston’s North Shore.

“We recognize the importance of supporting local organizations” said Annie Harris, Essex Heritage CEO, “and we are proud that we are able to award twenty partnership grants this year – not only in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Congressional Act that designated the Essex National Heritage Area but also because we know that this seed money greatly impacts the region by leveraging more investments in Essex County.”

It is hard to overstate Nathan Dane’s impact on U.S. history. A son of Beverly, Dane was known variously as an influential delegate to the Continental Congress, the “Savior of Harvard Law School,” and the “Father of American Jurisprudence.” Less known was his 1808 construction of a powder house in which to store the town’s gun powder, firearms, and other military supplies. Long neglected and surrounded by a densely settled residential neighborhood, the brick structure is the subject of a restoration effort befitting its status as the last eight-sided powder house standing in New England and the second oldest publicly owned building in Beverly.

Essex Heritage is the non-profit organization that manages the Essex National Heritage Area by developing programs that enhance, preserve, and encourage recreation, education, conservation and interpretation projects on Boston’s North Shore and the Lower Merrimack River Valley. The Essex National Heritage Area is comprised of the 34 cities and towns of Essex County, MA. For more information, visit www.EssexHeritage.org or call (978) 740-0444.