By: Mary Beth Almond | Rochester Post | Published August 20, 2025
OAKLAND TOWNSHIP/ROCHESTER — The America250MI Committee has awarded two local municipalities history grants to help preserve Michigan’s history for future generations.
The grant program, officials said, represents a key element of the state’s commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Locally, Oakland Township and Rochester are two of 50-plus communities and organizations that will share in Round 1 funds in the America250MI History Grant Program, which is dedicated to sharing how history is connected to physical places.
“This funding will empower these communities to elevate and share their local stories, which is vital to the understanding and preservation of our state’s rich history,” said Sandra Clark, the director of the Michigan History Center, which shares management of the America250MI Committee with the Historical Society of Michigan.
Under the first round of the grants, the Oakland Township Historic District Commission received $4,955 for its project, “Celebrating Patriotism of our Settlers.”
Township Historic Preservation Planner Barbara Barber said the project involves researching the Revolutionary War soldier’s families, among others, and supplying cemeteries with special Revolutionary grave markers and flagpoles. One of the goals of the project, she said, is to share a presentation about the first settlements, effects of the wars, prosperity, and the town hall meetings to establish order and take care of one another.
“What better way than to start with our historic cemeteries tied to our first settlers?” she said.
The city of Rochester received a $9,486 America250MI History Grant for its “Revolutionary Hero Cemetery Preservation and Awareness” project.
Rochester Director of Project Management Jason Warner said the intent of the project is to preserve and restore the headstones of at least three Revolutionary War soldiers in the Mt. Avon Cemetery.
“The city feels that it’s important to preserve our history and to preserve the headstones of those that are buried there,” he said. “We are also planning to put some type of bronze markers at the headstones that will have a QR code that visitors can scan with their phone and that will link to the city’s cemetery section on the city’s website, which will have information and background on the soldiers that are buried there.”
The city, Warner added, is also working with the Daughters of the American Revolution, Stony Creek Chapter, to order and install an America 250 bronze marker during an America 250 celebration event planned for May 16, 2026.
In all, 50-plus grant recipients across the state will share nearly $1 million in America250MI funding, which will be awarded in three grant rounds.