LCHIP Grant Award Winner

NH’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program Awards

$13,000 Grant to the Exeter Heritage Commission for Restoration and Rehabilitation of the Winter Street Cemetery.

Exeter, NH – Governor Maggie Hassan and Senate President Chuck Morse joined together to congratulate LCHIP’s most recent grant recipients on their hard work and successful efforts toward protecting the special places that define New Hampshire.  Governor Hassan observed that "The Land and Community Heritage Investment Program is critical to protecting our natural, historical and cultural resources, and I am proud that we restored funding for LCHIP in 2013 and maintained that commitment in our current bipartisan budget. For every dollar invested by LCHIP, we see a significant return on investment through the economic activity generated by those conservation efforts. This year's grants will support important projects across the state that will preserve our natural beauty and protect our rich history and vibrant culture."

Exeter’s Heritage Commission has been awarded a $13,000 grant in support of its efforts to restore and rehabilitate its Winter Street Cemetery. The Commission is fulfilling its mission to preserve historical resources and educate the public on aspects of the Town's heritage. The Cemetery owes much of its significance to the fact that it is the final resting place of prominent Exeter citizens who are descendants of the early settlers and ancestors of families still residing in Exeter. Among those buried in the cemetery are two governors, John Taylor Gilman and Josiah Smith, Revolutionary War veterans, Civil War veterans, representatives to the Constitutional Convention, the designer of the State Seal, Judges from every level of court, ship builders, merchants, freed slaves and prominent land owners.  This grant assists the first phase of cleaning, repairing and resetting about 100 of the 250 stones over the next year. The LCHIP grant will help defray the total costs of the restoration project. “I’m very proud that Exeter’s Heritage Commission has been awarded such a competitive grant,” said State Representative and Selectwoman Julie Gilman. “Preservation projects are often overlooked, and assistance from LCHIP is vital to accomplish them. To be recognized for the Town’s commitment to preservation of both our local and State heritage is an honor,” she said.

The Heritage Commission’s project is one of thirty five awarded funding in LCHIP’s fifteenth grant round supporting projects ranging from Northumberland in the North County to Nashua in the south and from Portsmouth in the east to Claremont in the west.  The three and a half million dollars awarded by LCHIP are being matched by nearly $20,000,000 in funds from other sources.

Grant decisions are made by the 18-member LCHIP Board of Directors, following a rigorous months-long application and review process.    “The LCHIP Board of Directors is always pleased to help with saving New Hampshire’s historic landmarks and landscapes” observed LCHIP Board Chairman Doug Cole or DS Cole Growers in Loudon.  He continued: “It is great to see historic buildings rehabilitated to their original glory and contributing to the local economy again.  Plus, since we all like to eat, protecting farmland is a good investment.”  

About New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program

The New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program is an independent state authority that provides matching grants to New Hampshire communities and non-profits to protect and preserve the state’s most important natural, cultural and historic resources. Its legislatively mandated mission is to ensure the perpetual contribution of these resources to the economy, environment, and the quality of life in New Hampshire.  Since its inception in 2000, the program has provided 372 grants which have helped to protect nearly 200 historic structures and sites and to conserve more than 278,000 acres of land for food production, water quality, ecological values, timber management and recreation including hunting and fishing. Grants have been awarded in all parts of the state and in 149 of New Hampshire’s communities. Thirty-nine million dollars of state money have leveraged more than $244 million in funds from other sources.  LCHIP grants are supported by fees on four documents recorded at the Registry of Deeds in every county of the state. 

For more information about LCHIP, visit lchip.org or call (603)224-4113.