FREDERICK, Md. - Two "significant Civil War properties" near South Mountain Battlefield will be preserved through a $785,000 state grant, Gov. Robert Ehrlich's office announced Tuesday.
The 31-acre Robertson property and the Ceres Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church will become part of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' South Mountain State Park, which includes the battlefield, Ehrlich's office said in a news release.
The grant is from the state's Transportation Enhancement Program, which is federal money administered by the Maryland State Highway Administration.
"As part of the ongoing effort to preserve Civil War sites in Maryland, more than 6,000 acres of South Mountain and the Rural Legacy land have been permanently protected," the governor's office said.
The state's Rural Legacy Program was set up to help fund the preservation of farms, forests and open spaces, according to the Department of Natural Resources' Web site.
