The Hugh McK. Jones Trust Fund for Historic Preservation
The Hugh McK. Jones Trust Fund for Historic Preservation is a revolving fund established by the GPA to preserve and protect land or buildings of historical or architectural significance in Guilford. A second purpose of the Fund is to enforce preservation easements that may be acquired by the Alliance. The Trust can own buildings that would otherwise be at risk of loss.
The Trust makes loans to help owners rehabilitate, preserve, or otherwise save significant historical buildings. Loans are ordinarily in the form of a mortgage repayable in a fixed period of years at an interest rate selected to match the circumstances of the owner. The Trust is also able to make grants for historic preservation up to the amount of its income from interest on its assets in any one year.
When the Trust purchases property, it does so with the intention that it will be held only for the time necessary to assure its preservation. The property may be sold with restrictions and covenants that will protect its historical character. In recent years most of the Trust’s work has been accomplished through loans and small grants.
The affairs of the Trust are managed by five (or at most, six) trustees appointed by the president of the GPA for three-year terms. The president and treasurer of the GPA are trustees ex officio. The trustees elect a chair and secretary from among their members.
The Trust’s original project was the purchase of the then threatened Kingsnorth-Starr House on State Street, which was – after the Whitfield House – the oldest dwelling in Guilford. It subsequently sold the house as a private residence with restrictive easements to assure its historical character. The Trust has made loans to aid the establishment of the Dudley Farm in North Guilford; to the Guilford Keeping Society for restoration work on the Thomas Griswold House; for the restoration of the historic bowling alley located off Broad Street; and for major repairs on the Colonel William Hart house at 222 Whitfield Street. It also made a grant for stabilization work on the Regicide Cellar on River Street; beam replacement in the Stone Family Cider Mill on River Street; assisted with the restoration of the Christian Science Church on the Green; the erection of the Munger Barn at the Dudley Farm; and the preservation of the building now serving as the Women and Family Life Center on Fair Street.
