Wallace House Gets $950K in Grants as NJ Preps Revolutionary War Sites for 250th Anniversary

The National Park Service awarded the Department of Environmental Protection $950,000 to fix up the Wallace House Historic Site in Somerville, Somerset County. This money will pay for work inside the building and better ways to teach visitors about this Revolutionary War spot where General George Washington spent the winter of 1778-1779.

A $750,000 Semiquincentennial Grant from the National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund will pay for making the second floor stronger, adding heat pumps that save energy, and putting in walls, paint, and plaster that match what people used back then. Workers will use materials that don't harm the earth. They plan to wrap things up by 2028.

Another $200,000 Preservation Planning Grant from the American Battlefield Protection Program will create a report. This report will show how to make the site better for teaching history and improving the land and water around it. Staff will study whether they can uncover a buried stream that runs between the Wallace House Historic Site and the Old Dutch Parsonage Historic Site next door, which would help protect both places when big storms hit.

"New Jersey offers an unparalleled experience for residents and visitors seeking to retrace the steps of those who fought to secure our independence and learn about our state's unique role during the Revolutionary War," said Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette, in a news release.

Washington used this building as his command post when the Continental Army camped at Middlebrook. Soldiers set up around the Watchung Mountains, which kept them safe from attacks and gave them high ground to watch what the enemy was doing.

The outside of the site is getting fixed right now. Workers are repairing the roof, chimneys, boards on the walls, wooden supports, windows, and the base. A $500,000 National Park Service Semiquincentennial Grant is paying for this, with extra money from Governor Phil Murphy's semiquincentennial fund.

This work is part of a $25 million investment the Murphy Administration made in 2022. The goal? Fix up and restore 10 Revolutionary War sites. Teams are working at Washington Crossing State Park, Trenton's Old Barracks Museum, Princeton Battlefield State Park, Monmouth Battlefield State Park, and six other spots.

The biggest project is a new visitor center and museum at Washington Crossing State Park in Mercer County. Guests will see displays about the Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783, step into a 4D experience that makes them feel like they're on a ferry with video scenes of the crossing playing on the walls, and sit in a theater that holds 125 people.