Attention all Adams County barn owners! Historic Gettysburg Adams County continues to offer grants to help owners of historic barns maintain and preserve their barns. Barn grant applications for 2025 are now being accepted for consideration. The deadline to submit applications is March 1.
In 2024, HGAC provided $35,000 in barn preservation grants to 15 barn owners. Since 2013, the HGAC Barn Preservation Project and Grant Program has made grants available to more than 60 owners of historic barns. This year, the maximum grant provided will be $5,000, which must be matched by the barn owner’s labor or a cash outlay of that amount for materials or contract labor.

Grants are only awarded to historic barns within Adams County and those that are listed on the HGAC Barn Register. Currently, the Register includes 418 barns, more than one-quarter of the historic barns in the county. Historic barns are added to the Register by HGAC at the request of their owners. Inclusion in the Register provides recognition of the barn and the opportunity to participate in the HGAC grant program, but inclusion does not legally bind the owner in any way.
Grant application guidelines and the application form are available online at www.hgaconline.org. There are links on the homepage; or from the menu at the top of the page, pick “Programs”, then click on “Barn Preservation Project/Grant Program” to find the links to guidelines and application forms. There is no fee to apply for the grant if the barn owner is an HGAC member. If an applicant is not an HGAC member for the year 2025, the grant application must include a check for a $25 HGAC annual membership. All projects are reviewed using ten criteria contained in the grant guidelines, including the visibility of the barn to the general public, the age of the barn, the need for immediate repairs and whether the work will help maintain the historic character of the barn.
If you have questions about the grant program, or if you would like to have your barn added to HGAC’s Barn Register, please call Curt Musselman at 717-659-8827 or email shinbone605@comcast.net.
Many of these solidly built barns continue to serve the agriculture industry even though they may now fulfill a different role than their original purpose. Historic barns no longer used in agriculture still help to preserve the agricultural settings and historic landscapes that are so important to our tourism industry and to preserving the rural character of Adams County.
The HGAC barn grants are possible thanks to the generosity of our many supporters who value the contribution these iconic structures make to our historic and largely rural communities. If you would like to help sponsor the HGAC Barn Preservation Project, please contact Bob McIlhenny, the project’s Director of Development, at (717) 420-6500.
== Curt Musselman is the chairman of HGAC’s Preservation Committee