• Historic Restoration & Preservation

    Preserving the historic places that hold our collective history
History & Culture

Historic sites across the United States offer a unique lends through which to view and understand American history and culture. From understanding the context of a historic battlefield to standing in the footsteps of our nation’s trailblazers, historic sites hold our shared history – they are places that reflect our past, engage with our present, and invite us to imagine our future.

The National Park Foundation (NPF)’s work in historic restoration and preservation provides vital funding to preserve and restore these treasured places, ensuring they are accessible and inviting for generations to come. By supporting the rehabilitation of historic sites, NPF helps the National Park Service (NPS) share more comprehensive and inclusive stories that amplify the full range of experience and voices that are woven into the fabric of the United States.

Highlights & Projects

The Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument house’s entryway with stunning gold frames

Upgrades at Belmont-Paul

NPF supported rehabilitation efforts at Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument, including an upgrade to the HVAC systems, a fire suppression system, and repairs to the historic home’s roof, woodwork, chimney, and other parts of the exterior and interior. The project also restored the iconic stained glass around the home’s front door. 

Neoclassical facade of a building, with a triangular roof and columns

Restoring Arlington House

Arlington House plays a unique role in American history. A project, supported by NPF, restored the home, slave quarters, and grounds for the park, and introduced a brand-new visitor experience that aims to tell the stories of the enslaved people who were forced to work on the plantation, as well as the infamous family who lived there. 

A family walking up the stairs to the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site

Lincolns for Lincoln

Through a partnership with the History Channel on our Lincolns for Lincoln initiative, NPF supported the preservation and restoration of six key national parks and historic sites associated with Abraham Lincoln, including Kentucky’s Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, Washington, D.C.’s Ford’s Theatre National Historic Site, and Indiana’s Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.  

An alcove with a bookcase taking up the right wall. The bookcase is filled with books

Preserving Theodore Roosevelt Sites

In 1968, NPF allocated a series of grants for restoration projects at Theodore Roosevelt’s birthplace in New York, as well as the restoration and repair of his Long Island home, Sagamore Hill. 

A park ranger near a flag at Fort Sumter

Restoring the Star Spangled Banner

With the help of a 1986 grant from NPF, one fo the two original flags at Fort Sumter was restored, saving a piece of national history. Today, visitors can see this flag when they visit Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park.