HELLERTOWN, Pa. — For Hellertown Historical Society, 2025 brings more opportunity to further preserve the borough’s treasured landmarks.
And the group is in for a busy year, HHS President Larry Sutton said, as 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — a semiquincentennial occasion.
HHS is vying for a grant from the U.S. National Park Service's Historic Preservation Fund for improvements including the replacement of windows and doors at the 1761 Heller-Wagner Grist Mill, 150 W. Walnut St.
“We want to use that brick and mortar as a magnet for the community."Hellertown Historical Society President Larry Sutton, speaking on the Heller-Wagner Grist Mill
“We want to use that brick and mortar as a magnet for the community,” Sutton said at a council meeting on Feb. 3. “And it’s not just for residents of Hellertown — we want people to come to Hellertown.”
Sutton said application values through the NPS program start around $75,000, but the estimated value of the grist mill improvements may “easily” surpass that amount.
The application deadline is March 18.
If the money is approved, a 10-year preservation covenant between the borough and HHS would guarantee both the building’s preservation and maintenance by HHS.
It also would “document the grant-assisted condition of the building characteristics that were completed by this project,” according to Borough Manager Cathy Hartranft.
Longtime partnership
The borough has owned the mill site for nearly 45 years; the nonprofit HHS acts as a fiduciary and operates out of the 18th-century building.
The more-than-30-acre historic area comes with scenic views, picnic tables and handy access to the Saucon Rail Trail.
HHS offers tours of the grist mill complex, which includes the colonial-era Wash House, Grist Mill Museum and Pole Barn, among other sites.
Mayor David Heintzelman said HHS has done good by the property “in a superb manner” for four decades.
“Hellertonians are proud of their community, and the mill site is one of our best public parks."Hellertown Mayor David Heintzelman
“Hellertonians are proud of their community, and the mill site is one of our best public parks,” Heintzelman wrote in his letter to Megan Brown, chief of the State, Tribal, Local, Plans & Grants Division of the National Park Service.
“As a colonial-era survivor, it is certainly worth preserving!”
Councilwoman Liz Thompson said of the historic site, “Knowing that it’s going to continue and it’s just going to get better, is amazing.”
Regarding his support of the improvements, Council President Thomas Rieger referenced the borough’s motto: “Cherishing our past. Embracing the future.”
“To me, it’s that simple,” Rieger said.
'We're not going anywhere'
The borough took ownership of the mill site in 1981, when it entered into an agreement that the historical society would handle ongoing preservation and site maintenance.
“We’re under a 99-year lease; we’re not going anywhere,” Sutton said, as folks around the room chuckled.
The Walnut Street "Pony" Bridge, just across the street from the grist mill, was announced as part of the National Register of Historic Places in 2023.
The register is a federal government list "of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or 'great artistic value,'" according to the National Park Service website.
The Semiquincentennial Grant Program comes through funding from the Historic Preservation Fund, and is managed by the National Park Service.
The money is Outer Continental Shelf oil- and gas-lease revenues.
About $7 million in associated funding was set aside by Congress for FY2024.
According to the HHS Facebook page, the group brought in the following grant money during 2024:
- $85,000 for the borough, in coordination with HHS, to build a new handicapped access ramp at the Grist Mill Museum
- $10,000 through a Keystone Preservation Planning grant (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission awarded HHS for its application to include the Heller-Wagner Grist Mill Complex among the National Register of Historic Places)
- $10,000 through a Northampton County Hotel Tax grant (For marketing and public relations services related to programming)
- $6,100 through a Northampton County Hotel Tax grant (For outdoor interpretive signs at the Heller-Wagner Grist Mill Complex)
- $5,000 from a Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation grant (For producing educational videos about 12 local, historic buildings).
