CAMDEN — The Goggin Manor House in Brecknock Park will receive $1 million for renovations on its way to potentially becoming a historical museum.

U.S. Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons and U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, all D-Del., were on hand outside the white, somewhat squat two-story building Friday to announce a $500,000 federal grant. The grant will be matched by Kent County.

“It’s such a wonderful thing to see Goggin’s wishes finally getting some financial support,” said Anita Beckel, a member of Friends of Historic Camden, which has raised money for the manor.

The money will be used to restore the home, built more than 300 years ago, so it can become a place where the public can learn about Kent County’s history, including, “hopefully,” its place along the Underground Railroad, said George “Jody” Sweeney, Levy Court commissioner for county’s 5th District.

Elizabeth Howell Goggin, who last owned the manor and the 86 acres on which it sits, gave the property to the county in her will when she died in 1988. In her will, she asked for the land to be used for “recreational, educational, conservation and wildlife and historic preservation purposes.” With the funding announced Friday, Mr. Sweeney said, the county will be able to fulfill those wishes.

Goggin House was the childhood home of Joshua Clayton, the first person to hold the title of “governor” of Delaware. (The office was called “president” prior to the adoption of a new state constitution in 1792.)

The larger Brecknock Park is close to multiple sites related to the Underground Railroad. It is a few hundred feet north of a free Black community called Brinkley Hill, named after a family who lived there. Two of the family members — William and Nathaniel Brinkley — were conductors on the Underground Railroad, according to the Delaware Department of Transportation.

It is imperative to preserve and promote sites of historical importance, Sen. Coons said. He gave as an example his experience growing up next to Hockessin Colored School No. 107, — a segregated school at the heart of one the cases later consolidated into Brown v. Board of Education — without knowing what the small red brick building was.

It was only years later while studying law that he learned its history. His professor at the time asked him to explain the significance of the school. The future senator drew a blank.

“Out of the embarrassment of that one moment in class, I will simply say you are building the foundation — we are building the foundation — for Delaware’s history to be recovered, strengthened, fortified and then taught,” Sen. Coons said.