Sen. Lisa Boscola has announced that the Hellertown Historical Society was awarded $10,000 for a Keystone Planning Grant to assist in their efforts to elevate the Heller-Wagner Grist Mill site to a site recognized in the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.

“The Heller-Wagner Grist Mill has great historical significance and is deserving of being placed on the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places,” Sen. Boscola stated. “The Heller-Wagner Grist Mill is a ‘diamond in the rough,’ which the Hellertown Historical Society is on the cusp of putting on the map as a tourist site that will benefit not only the Borough of Hellertown and its business community, but the citizens and businesses throughout the Lehigh Valley and beyond.”

“The Hellertown Historical Society is thankful to Sen. Lisa Boscola and Rep. Bob Freeman for their support to secure this grant,” said Larry Sutton, president of the Hellertown Historical Society. “It will help us achieve a yearslong dream of recognizing the Heller-Wagner grist mill site as a National Historic site. Thanks to PMHC and the Keystone Grant program, we can now cover half of the $20,000 estimated cost for a documented application to the National Park Service. We will ask our supporters to assist on the remaining $10,000 cost. Work on the documentation is expected to begin in September.”

Keystone Planning Grants are awarded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission as part of the Keystone Historic Preservation Grant Program, which provides funding to support projects that identify, preserve, promote, and protect historic and archaeological resources in Pennsylvania for both the benefit of the public and the revitalization of communities.

Funding also supports municipal planning initiatives that focus on historic resources or may be used to meet building or community specific planning goals. The program also supports construction activities at resources listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

The funding source for these grants is through the Keystone Recreation, Park & Conservation Fund, which is supported annually from a portion of the state realty transfer tax revenue.

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