The Historic Preservation Society of Gettysburg – Adams County (HGAC) is pleased to announce that in 2025 alone, it awarded $30,000 in barn preservation grants to owners of six historic barns within Adams County. The barns are located all across the county, from Fairfield to Littlestown to New Oxford to Abbottstown to Biglerville. The preservation work done included roof replacement, masonry repairs, rebuilding of main barn doors, lower level post replacement and repairs to frame joists, beams and braces.
Curt Musselman, HGAC’s Director of the Barn Preservation Project & Grant Program, says that HGAC hopes to provide a similar amount of grants in 2026. If you own a barn and want to be considered for a barn preservation grant in 2026, applications are now being accepted for consideration until March 2, 2026. Grants are only awarded to historic barns that are within Adams County and that are listed on the HGAC Barn Register which now includes 434 barns.
This year, the maximum grant amount for a single barn is $5000. That amount must be matched by the barn owner’s labor or a cash outlay of that amount for materials or contract labor. Grants are paid on a reimbursement basis after the preservation work has been completed.
Since 2013, the HGAC Barn Preservation Project and Grant Program has made almost $150,000 in grants available to nearly 100 owners of historic barns to help extend the life of their barn and to help preserve the rural character of Adams County.
Application guidelines and the application itself are available on-line at www.hgaconline.org. From the top of the home page menu click on “Programs”, then click on the words “Barn Preservation Project/Grant Program”. Next click on the words, “Barn Grant Applications and Guidelines”, which will reveal the links to the grant guidelines and application. There is no application 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 2026, the grant application must include a check for $25 to pay for HGAC membership for the year. If you have questions about the grant program after having examined the materials on the HGAC website, or if you would like to have your barn added to the HGAC Barn Register, please call Curt Musselman at 717-659-8827 or send an email to Preservation@HGAC-PA.org.
HGAC has been able to offer help to the owners of historic barns because of the support of our friends, neighbors, businesses and the County Commissioners. We thank you all for your generosity and for participating in HGAC activities such as the BarnArt Show & Sale in June and the Historic Barns Tour in September. If you would like to be a part of preserving the historic barns in Adams County by helping to sponsor the HGAC Barn Preservation Project, please get in touch with Bob McIlhenny, the project’s Director of Development at (717) 420-6500.