Walker County Awarded Grant for Phase 3 of its Historic Resources Survey

Walker County is one of six Georgia communities that will receive a federal subgrant to support historic preservation activities across the state. The Georgia State Historic Preservation Office, a division of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA), recently announced the subgrants, totaling more than $125,000.

Walker County will use the $20,180 grant to work on the third phase of a resurvey of historic resources in the county. The first phase covered the southeastern portion of the county while the second phase looked at potentially historic resources between Highway 151 and West Armuchee Valley Road.

This latest phase (shaded in blue) will review roughly 523 potentially historic resources including residential buildings, commercial buildings, community landmark buildings, agriculture buildings, as well as other structures and objects like water towers, wells, bridges, fortifications, sculptures, monuments, and fountains.

Phase 3 uses State Route 337 as the western boundary up to where it connects to the Trans American Trail, which serves as the northern boundary. State Route 151 serves as the eastern boundary up to where it connects with the Trans American Trail. The southern border is the county line.

Each year, Georgia’s 100 Certified Local Governments are eligible to apply for Historic Preservation Fund matching grants which are 60 percent federally funded and 40 percent locally funded. A city or county must pass a preservation ordinance and establish a historic preservation commission to be eligible to become a federal Certified Local Government.

HPF grant funds may be used for a variety of other preservation activities, including archaeological surveys, design guidelines, and publications. Educational, promotional, and tourism activities are also eligible for grant fund usage.