Historical markers are put up by national, state, or local governments or by clubs, businesses, or individuals.  They can be made of wood, metal, or stone.  There are all types and sizes.  Not everything you find written on them is completely true, though the current governmental and organizational programs I am familiar with do strive for strict accuracy.

Some markers are long enough to give you a bit of background to the event or thing commemorated.  Others are kept purposely short and sweet for people to read on the fly while dashing by.  It is the viewer's duty, if he choses to accept it, to then go and look up a book to find out the rest of the story (or go and write a book herself, for a lot of these under-reported stories) or to stop by an historical society to try to pry more details out of the members.

As with most historical subjects, some groups have been putting a lot of info about their historical markers up on the Web, while others have not.  In other words, do not interpret finding nothing about your location on my page as meaning that there are no historical monuments near you.  Take it to mean that you personally are going to have to sling some info about your area's historical markers up on the Internet yourself.  Hey, you don't have to do what some of these people have done, photographing and HTMLizing the story of each marker in your state.  Plenty of people have simply put something about one or two historical monuments of interest to them up on the Web.  Thanks to all of them for that.

What's an historical marker?  Most of the ones I have linked to here are the big metal ones put up by state programs but that's simply because those are the easiest to find info about.  If you know something about some local marker, please put it up on the Internet.  Those are the markers that are the hardest for the rest of us to find out anything about.  Am I including interpretive signboards here?  Sure I am.  They are not strictly historical markers but they are certainly every bit as fascinating to us travelers or locals.

Alabama:  a marker and another     a marker project

Arkansas:  University of Arkansas markers list

California:  state markers lists or here or try there      partial Tulare County markers list      Santa Clarita Valley markers list      a marker      San Francisco historic signage project     Tahoma interpretive panels project      a markers article or here or there      guidebook

Colorado:  interpretive markers project     monument article

Delaware:  state markers list      S.A.R. markers listing      a marker

Florida:  state markers lists      or click here      what's what      an Alachua County marker      a Brevard County marker      Madison County markers list      Marco Island markers list      a Manatee County marker      a marker

Georgia:  state & historical society marker lists      historical society markers list      state markers program      northern state markers list & guidebook      Civil War markers     Catoosa County markers     Lincoln, Taliaferro, & Wilkes Counties markers lists      Lumpkin County markers list     Atlanta guidebook      Augusta markers map or here and several Augusta markers and another      a Forsyth County marker      a marker and another      a marker article & another & one more      make your own marker

Idaho:  a marker

Illinois:  state markers lists      Matteson markers list      a DeKalb County marker      a Lee County monument      a marker      Trail of Death markers article      guidebook

Indiana:  state markers list [Type * on ID line and click search.]    how to go about getting a state marker     marker photographs      Fort Wayne D.A.R. markers list     Franklin County markers list     Johnson County markers list      LaPorte County state markers list & a marker      Noble County markers listing & book      Sullivan County markers list      a Warren County marker and another      Hanover markers project article      an article

Iowa:  a marker

Kansas:  state markers list     state markers listing      Hays markers mini-map      several markers or here      Fort Leavenworth markers article      markers lesson plan

Kentucky:  state markers list     markers repair project     Adair County markers listing     Clay County markers list      Floyd County state markers      a Lexington marker and here      a Perryville marker     a couple markers  or click here      a marker      Lexington marker article

Louisiana:  state markers list      markers as visual art      guidebook

Maryland:  Anne Arundel County markers list      1896 Civil War tablets article      guidebook

Massachusetts:  Boston markers list      an Arlington marker

Michigan:  state markers list     state markers program      Kent County markers list -- a cool Eagle Scout project      Albion markers list or here      a Battle Creek marker or here      a Clinton County marker      a Homer marker      a couple Jackson markers      a Saginaw marker      a Wayne County marker      Hope College marker      a marker      another      yet another

Minnesota:  Sandstone marker

Mississippi:  D.A.R. markers list      some Vicksburg National Military Park markers      a Covington County marker

Missouri:  Trail of Death markers article

Montana:  a plaque      guidebook

Nebraska:  state markers list      state markers listing      partial state markers list     partial state markers listing     state markers program

Nevada:  state markers list     state marker program     White Pine County historical markers list     Carson City markers listing     markers congressional act

New Hampshire:  state markers lists     markers lists     a marker

New Jersey:  Rockaway markers

New Mexico:  a couple markers     a couple more

New York:  state markers list     markers program     short markers listing      Washington County markers short listing      Lynbrook markers     Willsboro markers list      a state marker      story behind a marker     erroneous Huntington markers mention

North Carolina:  state markers listing or try here     Rutherford County markers list      Hillsborough markers      Wadesboro & Durham historical markers project

North Dakota:  guidebook

Ohio:  state markers      several Marietta markers      a crime marker

Oklahoma:  state markers program      southwest Oklahoma markers listing      McCurtain County markers listing      a Chickasaw Nation marker article      a marker      a monumental theory

Oregon:  state markers listings     Oregon Trail interpretive kiosks list      markers restoration      Clackamas County markers listing     Curry County markers listing      Newport interpretive signs project

Pennsylvania:  state marker program     business markers list      environmental markers list     Fort McIntosh interpretive markers     Penn State markers list     some markers      a literary marker      a marker's story      a proposed marker      a marker article and another

South Carolina:  a marker

South Dakota:  a marker

Tennessee:  1997 state markers act      Civil War markers list      Nashville marker information      a marker

Texas:  state markers      lists by county      marker images      newspaper articles      guidebooks

Utah:  Salt Lake County interpretive plaques project

Vermont:  Waterbury markers lists

Virginia:  markers policy change article      Middle Peninsula of eastern Virginia markers map      Culpeper County markers list      Essex County markers map      Halifax County markers      Mecklenburg County      Prince William County markers list      Wise County markers list      Civil War markers lists -- north   central   Shenandoah Vally   south      several markers      a marker      another      yet another      and still another      a marker article and another      guidebook

Washington:  Spokane historic preservation markers program

West Virginia:  Bluefield markers article

Wisconsin:  state markers listings     state markers criteria      Chippewa County markers listing     Columbia County markers list or here      adult ed markers course      guidebook

Wyoming:  guidebook

quarter horse markers list

General Kenton markers list

Potawatomi expulsion Trail of Death markers listing

Boone Trail tablets (not historical markers but fun nonetheless)

Philippines:  a couple markers

United Kingdom:  articles on interpretive panels     Northern Ireland:  Armagh Observatory meridian monuments (historic rather than historical but nevertheless fun)

school activities      this just in      school project synopsis

the fun of refinishing an historical marker, courtesy of the Texas Historical Commission

how a marker is made

elimae fictional markers list & advice

marker books

Southwell Company

Lake Shore Industries

Sewah Studios

Grandview Aluminum Products

Creative Edge Corporation or here

Innovative Signs

Mayfair Cast Metal Signs [Canadian]

marker refrigerator magnets, a cool idea

e-mail	top of page				Keyword Title Author	MEMBER of the CLUB

Have you found this page useful or interesing?  If so, please join the free Historians Club.  We wish to have lots & lots of members so that we can have more features.
Questions, complaints, suggestions, additional links?  Please e-mail the webmaster. Thank you to all those who have sent in notes and link requests. This page had not been updated for awhile but now we are back and raring to visit even more markers!
I claimed that sixteen months ago but then did not follow through. I have been collecting all sorts of info to post up here, much of that probably now out-of-date itself. What's worse, I just now noticed that I somehow screwed up the link to the nifty fridge magnets business so that the link misdirected you, falsely suggesting that they were no longer on the Web. I have now just corrected that link directly on-line here. Let's see if I get around to updating the rest of this site in the near future, shall we?
This page is at https://ianhistor.tripod.com/hlmkr/index.html.
This page developed 7th January, 2000.  Last updated 30th September, 2002.