1 week Ago By By Wade Littleton Tribune Staff Writer
Rogersville is the only Lakeway Area community to receive one of 21 matching grants from the Tennessee Historical Commission for historic preservation. The Tennessee Historical Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, awarded the matching grants totaling over $800,000 from the Federal Historic Preservation Fund allocated to non-profits, municipalities, universities, and civic organizations across the state to support the preservation of historic and archaeological resources. Rogersville received a $70,000 grant to fund the restoration of the exterior of the Powel Law Office on Washington Street.
Samuel Powel moved his office into the 115 East Washington Street log structure in 1805. It had one big room on the ground floor and a big room on the second story. The building is owned by the City of Rogersville.
It is believed to have been constructed in the late 1790s, but was renovated with rooms partitioned and covered with siding in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Among renovations that have already been done has been a return to its original two-room configuration. Phase two involved replacement of rotted logs on the front of the house facing Washington Street using period building materials.
Some hand-hewn logs had been acquired from the same time period from a collapsed log cabin at Hawkins County-owned Laurel Run Park in Church Hill. This is the second grant Rogersville has received for the building. A grant to compete Phase One was acquired for $49,666 in 2021, which involved stabilization of the log exterior with boards and metal screws.
Phase two consisted of a grant for $39,000 with $26,000 being paid for by the city. The building has connections to the American Revolution and the founding of Tennessee, through Powel’s father-in-law, Gen. George Rutledge.
Powel served as a judge and U.S. Congressman.
“The Federal Historic Preservation Fund grant program allows for the Tennessee Historical Commission to assist communities with projects that document and preserve our state’s significant historic properties. These projects are developed with care, supported locally through the required match, and show a true commitment to preservation,” said Patrick McIntyre, State Historic Preservation Officer and Executive Director. The Federal Historic Preservation Fund reimburses 60 percent of the project costs with a 40 percent match of project funds from the grantee.
This year’s grant awards include a wide variety of historic and architectural projects. Several projects this year continue previous projects such as the successful cemetery survey program in Nashville. Other grants will assist in funding preservation planners in seven of the state’s development districts and other grants are for posters highlighting the state’s archaeology and the restoration of historic buildings.
One of the agency’s grant priorities is for projects that are in Certified Local Governments, a program that allows the 50 enrolled communities to participate closely in the federal program of historic preservation. Certified Local Government communities are highly encouraged to apply, and for his round each CLG community that applied was funded including a grant to the Clarksville/Montgomery County for the development of downtown urban design guidelines and to the City of Paris to restore windows in the Lee School. Additional priorities include those that meet the goals and objectives of the Tennessee Historical Commission’s plan for historic preservation.
Properties that use the grant funds for restoration projects must be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Applications for the next round of Federal Historic Preservation Fund grants will open in December..
