Indian King Tavern Museum Gets $50K State Grant

The Indian King Tavern Museum was one of five historic-preservation projects in Camden County to be recommended for a Historic Preservation Trust Grant by the governor this month.

Indian King officials said the money will be used for a historical and structural study of the Haddonfield landmark, once matching funds are raised.

The museum stands as an important landmark in the history of the United States as the site of a 1777 meeting of the New Jersey General Assembly when it officially ratified the Declaration of Independence.  It is New Jersey's first historical site and was declared as such in 1903.

The recommended projects would receive a total of $214,669 in matching grant funding. Statewide, the New Jersey Historic Trust recommended 37 preservation planning projects. The recommended projects would receive a total of $1,393,084 million in matching grant funding, according to a news release.

Funding for the 2012 grant round is coming from the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund, which was created to preserve open space, farmland and historic sites with money raised through voter-approved bond referendums. The New Jersey Historic Trust, a DCA affiliate, administers the historic grants from the Trust Fund.

The 2012 grant round is devoted to Historic Sites Management Grants that support non-construction activities such as conditions assessments, engineering reports, construction documents, archaeology investigations, use feasibility studies and heritage tourism initiatives. Special initiatives this year highlighted projects that addressed planning for energy conservation or heritage tourism assessments.