Historic Cemetery Restoration Grants

About the Program

Category: Arts, Culture and Historic Preservation (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

The Historic Cemetery Restoration Grant Program provides financial assistance to cemetery owners and managers for the repair and preservation of local historic cemeteries. Created in 2017 in response to a county-wide survey of more than 100 historic cemeteries that showed a great need for their repair and maintenance, the program has helped raise awareness of cemetery preservation, beautified cemetery sites and revealed information about the County’s history and heritage. The program is administered through a successful and mostly voluntarily partnership that includes the County’s Cemetery Preservation Advisory Board (CPAB), the Department of Planning and Zoning (DPZ) and the Howard County Genealogical Society (HCGS). Since the impetus of the program, 11 historic cemeteries have been improved through headstone repair and resetting, invasive plant and tree removal, and installing fencing and signage to increase public awareness and improve cemetery protection.