There is hereby created and established in but not of the Department of State, a body corporate and politic with corporate succession, to be known as the New Jersey Historic Trust. The trust is hereby constituted an instrumentality exercising public and essential governmental functions, and the exercise by the trust of the powers conferred by P.L. 1967, c.124 (C.13:1B-15.111 et al.) shall be deemed and held to be an essential governmental function of the State.
N.J.S. § 13:1B-15.111