Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation awards $130,000 to 15 historic sites in Georgia
ATLANTA, May 28, 2025—The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation has awarded $130,000 in grants for historic preservation projects in Georgia through its Callahan Incentive Grant and The 1772 Foundation Grant programs.
The Callahan Incentive Grant is made possible by generous funding from Barbara and Les Callahan, longtime supporters of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, to provide matching funding for historic preservation projects in the state of Georgia. Grants totaling $10,000 have been awarded to two recipients: the Church of the Good Shepherd (Thomasville) and St. John United Methodist Church (Augusta). Each grantee was awarded $5,000.
The 1772 Foundation, partnering since 2023 with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, this year has awarded historic preservation matching grants totaling $120,000 to 13 Georgia private nonprofit organizations for maintenance of their historic sites. The grants ranged in amounts from $5,000 to the grant maximum of $10,000, which eleven organizations received.
The 2025 grant recipients are: Andrew Low House Museum (Savannah), The Arts Council (First Methodist Episcopal Church, Gainesville), Cobb Landmarks (William Root House, Marietta), Courthouse Square Development Inc. (Robinson-Glass House, Blakely), Enhancing Low Income Communities – ELICE, Inc. (East Park Cemetery, Vidalia), Friends of Historic Woolsey (Historic Woolsey Church, Woolsey), Georgia Writers Museum (Eatonton), Historic Augusta Incorporated (Woodrow Wilson House carriage barn, Augusta), Historic Macon Foundation (Historic District College Street house, Macon), Pebble Hill Foundation (Pebble Hill Plantation Fire House Complex, Thomasville), Pope’s Museum (Ochlocknee), Southern Forest World (historic fire tower, Waycross), and Friends of The Strand, Inc. (Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre, Marietta).
Grants were provided for exterior work: painting; surface restoration; fire detection/security systems; repairs to/restoration of chimneys, porches, roofs, and windows; repairs to foundations and sills; and masonry repointing. Georgia Trust staff reviewed the grant applications and selected projects based on criteria including organizational capacity, realistic budget, community support, and immediacy of need. The Georgia Trust will manage the grants.
“These grants reflect the Georgia Trust’s unwavering commitment to preserving the historic places that define our communities and tell Georgia’s diverse stories,” said W. Wright Mitchell, President and CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. “We’re deeply grateful to our generous partners — Barbara and Les Callahan, and The 1772 Foundation — whose support makes this important preservation work possible across the state.”
About The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
Founded in 1973, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation works for the preservation and revitalization of Georgia’s diverse historic resources and advocates their appreciation, protection and use.
As one of the country’s leading statewide, nonprofit preservation organizations, the Trust generates community revitalization by finding buyers for endangered properties acquired by its Revolving Fund and raises awareness of other endangered historic resources through an annual listing of Georgia’s “Places in Peril.” The Trust recognizes preservation projects and individuals with its annual Preservation Awards, honors students and professionals with the Neel Reid Prize and Liz Lyon Fellowship, and has multiple grant programs that assist in the preservation of historic sites across the state. The Trust offers a variety of educational programs for adults and children, provides technical assistance to property owners and historic communities, advocates for funding, tax incentives and other laws aiding preservation efforts, and manages two house museums in Atlanta (Rhodes Hall) and Macon (Hay House). To learn more, visit www.georgiatrust.org.
About The 1772 Foundation
The 1772 Foundation was named in honor of its first restoration project, Liberty Hall in Union, NJ, which was built in 1772 and is the ancestral home of the Livingston and Kean families. The late Stewart B. Kean was the original benefactor of The 1772 Foundation. The 1772 Foundation works to ensure the safe passage of historic assets to future generations. More information about The 1772 Foundation may be found at www.1772foundation.org.
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