HARRISBURG, PA — The Pike County Historical Society and Museum and the Wayne County Historical Society each received $8,000 in a recent round of state funding. 

The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission awarded nearly $4 million in Cultural and Historical Support Grants to 173 eligible museums and official county historical societies from 59 Pennsylvania counties. This is an increase over previous years by $2 million to better benefit Pennsylvania's historical resources.

The goal of the Cultural and Historical Support Grant program is to strengthen Pennsylvania’s museum community by supporting the general operations of eligible museums and official county historical societies that are not supported by other state agency funding programs. An eligible museum must have an annual operating budget exceeding $100,000 (excluding capital and in-kind services) and at least one full-time professional staff person (or approved equivalent).

Grants are awarded on a formula based on a percentage of the organization’s annual operating budget with a maximum grant of $62,000 and a minimum grant of $4,000. Allocated funding for the program remained level with $3,800,000 in grant awards.