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And
What Happened Here?
Historical
Markers of Virginia
Just
off I-85, near the intersection of Boyndon Plank
Road and Old Stage Road in Brunswick County, stands
one of Virginia’s standard historical markers –
black lettering on a silver background –
commemorating the county as "The
Original Home of Brunswick Stew." In
Richmond
, there’s a marker honoring the first Jewish
congregation in Virginia, Kahal
Kadosh Beth Shalome, founded in 1789. A marker
in
Accomack
County
honors "The
Bear and the Cub," the first recorded play
performed in the colonies in 1665.
These
are but a few of the more than 2,000 state highway
historical markers that dot the Old Dominion’s
highways and byways. They mark spots and honor
Virginians famous and obscure from the spot in
Caroline
County
where John
Wilkes Booth,
Lincoln
’s assassin, was cornered and killed by Union
soldiers in 1865 to Rassawek
in
Fluvanna
County
, the site of the main village of the Monocan
Indians, according to John Smith’s 1612 map of
Virginia
.
The
commonwealth’s highway marker program began in
1927 – one of the first in the nation – as a way
to promote tourism and encourage nationwide interest
in
Virginia
’s history. By the end of that year, the first
markers appeared along Route 1 from
Fredericksburg
to
Richmond
. Seven years later there were about 1,200 markers
set along the Old Dominion’s highways. Pull-offs
had been created so motorists could stop and read
the text. The earliest markers celebrated
Virginia
’s famous men, colonial structures and events of
the Civil War.
In
the mid-20th-century, some politicians and
historians thought the program should be
discontinued because all important topics had been
covered. The popularity of the markers saved them,
however. Since the 1970s, the Department of Historic
Resources, which coordinates the program, has
expanded the markers to include themes and sites
that had been neglected.
Markers
now commemorate important people and events in
African-American, Native-American and women’s
history. In its 81-year-history, the only time
markers were not installed was during World War II.
Originally,
the state paid for new markers, but since 1976,
private organizations, local governments and
individuals now foot the cost of markers ($1,350 as
of 2007). Among the requirements: no marker can be
erected for a living person; the person, event,
place or fact must have gained importance at least
50 years ago; and markers must be placed in public
right-of-way and maintained by the state Department
of Transportation or local public works. The text is
limited to 100 words and dates are always written in
military style ( e.g.
7 Dec. 1941
). Markers dealing with the Civil War must use the
term “Civil War” and not “War Between the
States.”
Once
staff has reviewed applications for new markers,
they present the proposal to the state’s Board of
Historic Resources, which meets quarterly. In 2006,
45 groups sponsored new markers. Recently installed
markers include Eagle's
Nest in
King
George
County
and Amorolick
Encounters John Smith in
Fredericksburg
. Federal funds now support updating damaged,
missing or outdated marks. For example, the Council
on Indians is now among those who review texts
on earlier markers related to Native Americans,
which sometimes misrepresented them or referred to
them in pejorative terms.
A
complete list of the commonwealth’s official
highway markers can be found in A
Guidebook to Historical Markers -- Third Edition,
a joint project of the
University
of
Virginia Press
and the Department of Historic Resources. Markers
can also be located online in the Virginia
Historical Highway Markers Database. You can
search by ZIP code, county or city, route number,
marker number and category. There are more than 50
categories of markers from “Homes of Famous
Virginians in the Nineteenth Century” to
“music,” “literature,” “frontier forts”
and “culinary.”
Speaking
of the culinary arts, in addition to the home of
Brunswick stew, originally concocted on a 1828
hunting trip when a camp cook simmered squirrel with
butter, onion, stale bread and seasoning,
Virginia’s markers celebrate Marion Harland, whose
1871 book, "Common Sense in the Household"
was the best-selling cookbook in America, and Mary
Randolph, whose 1824 "The American
Housewife" is considered the first regional
cookbook published in the nation.
For
the devoted regional history buff, these are but a
few of the tributes to the rich and sometimes
little-known history hidden just off Virginia’s
highways.
NEXT:
Big Government in Virginia: Does Size Really Matter?
--
May 5, 2008
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