The King's Highway Trust Foundation - Historic Preservation Initiative

Our nonprofit’s mission is to preserve and promote the diverse historical and technological legacy of the Greater Philadelphia area. This includes colonial-era sites along The King’s Highway and pivotal 20th-century landmarks like the Johnsville Centrifuge and Naval Air Development Center—where America’s astronauts trained before the Moon. Through historic preservation, educational programming, and community storytelling, we aim to make history accessible, immersive, and unifying. Whether through film, tours, reenactments, or STEM outreach, our goal is to inspire civic pride, connect generations, and honor both our nation's founding and its frontier into space. We believe every civic association, historical society, educator, business, resident, and volunteer has a role in preserving the history—and future—of the Greater Philadelphia region and the United States of America.

Here is a list of what our initiatives include:

  • Create self-guided mobile app tours that highlight colonial sites, aviation history, and NASA-related landmarks.
  • Create and install metal signs along the King's Highway and at aerospace heritage sites like the Johnsville Centrifuge.
  • Install historic signage to help tourists identify key locations from both early American history and Cold War-era innovation.
  • Host colonial, indigenous, and aerospace-themed events—including reenactments, screenings of space history films, and history tours.
  • Engage the community with interactive experiences like astronaut training simulations, poetry readings, musical encounters, and costumed galas.
  • Create an illustrated map of all historic and technological sites in the Greater Philadelphia region.
  • Continue to raise awareness about historic and scientific buildings that are threatened by demolition or neglect.
  • Help facilitate the nomination of both architectural and technological landmarks for historic designation.
  • Host an annual Northeast Philadelphia History & Heritage Celebration incorporating colonial societies, aerospace exhibits, music, poetry, and cultural reenactments.
  • Help preserve historic buildings and technological artifacts if funds are available to do so.
  • Produce documentary films like Before The Moon to preserve and promote regional history and innovation through visual storytelling.
  • Apply for grants, city & state funding, and seek support from foundations and sponsors to realize our mission.
  • Educate students about the region's history and its contribution to space exploration through interactive STEM programs and partnerships with schools.

Here is our preservation sheet to keep track of historic sites that are in jeopardy:

If you would like to contribute to this sheet please click here.