Bradford House uses national grant to make upgrades, repairs
Courtesy of the Bradford House Historical Association
Work on window sills at the Bradford House was made possible through a grant the organization received from the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Courtesy of the Bradford House Historical Association
New shutters were recently installed at the Bradford House in downtown Washington. Financing for upgrades at the site came through a grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution.
For the first time in its history, the Bradford House Historical Association received a national grant for work at the historic structure on South Main Street in Washington.
The organization was given $7,524 from the Daughters of the American Revolution to replace a door, four shutters and seven windowsills. Doing work like this at a site steeped in history and open to the public as a museum is more complicated than making similar upgrades at a private residence or an abode of more recent vintage.
“For us to land this particular project is no small feat,” said Mike Robinson, chairman of the Bradford House’s campus committee, which handles upkeep of the house. The Bradford House was constructed in 1788 and was the home of David Bradford, a lawyer and leader of the 1790s Whiskey Rebellion against the federal government over a whiskey tax imposed by the federal government.
All the work had to be done “in a period-approprite way,” according to Robinson. He explained that contractors needed to do millwork “that would make it look like it was then.”
One of the window sills at the Bradford House was saturated and had become infested by carpenter ants. It has been replaced by a longer-lasting Spanish Cedar which is more durable.
The Bradford House had fallen into disrepair by the time the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission acquired it in 1959. Before it was restored, the house had been, among other things, a furniture and coffin outlet.