Sauk Centre, Minnesota, USA

Defining Main Street: The History.  Sinclair Lewis did not sentimentalize Main Street in his novel by the same name. Today, we do. We glorify it. We have even shaped our country's newly-built "town centers" as Main Street mimics. Because of its importance, we will spend all month on Main Streets trying to appreciate both their diversity and their unity. [2012]

Philippi, West Virginia, USA

The Philippi covered bridge (pronounced with a -pee at the end) spans the Tygart River. It is a rare double-barreled, two-lane bridge, a three-lane bridge if you count the outside pedestrian walkway. If you visit, be sure to take in the local museum where you will find a collection of human mummies from the late 1800s. [2021]

Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA

If you happen to catch the unveiling of a historical marker, consider yourself lucky. Usually there is only a small gaggle of people lurking around. Some have been asked to take an active role in the ceremony. Others have planned their day around being a spectator. Still others (me!) just happen to be in the right place at the right time. [1982]

 

Corydon, Indiana, USA

Who stole the historical marker? Maybe, though, its absence is an opportunity. Let's get the high school history classes to write a new one. Then, have a competition to see which class does the best job. [2022]

New Bern, North Carolina, USA

Pepsi, unlike its older brother, low-keyed corporate murals. Certainly, there was none on the wall of Caleb Bradham's pharmacy in New Bern, "the Birthplace of Pepsi Cola." Until 1898, Pepsi was known as "Brad's Drink." See the historical marker? P.S.: Thanks, Pepsi, for pulling out of Russia! [2021]

Charleston, Illinois, USA

February is all about the number two, and 2/22 is a palindrome too! Here is what a chain-saw artist created to help Charlestonians celebrate Lincoln's birthday. Locals call him "Tiny Head Abe." But why did the city have to put him behind a chain-link fence? Be sure to see tomorrow's post. [2017]

Hurricane, Utah, USA

It's only a row of storefronts along the town's main street. What sets it apart? A peddler's wagon. It was used to haul sorghum and fruit to communities in the north, and wool to rail stops for shipment back east. Maybe Hurricane should add an historical marker explaining all that. Oh, wait, they already did! Where do you think all this info came from? [2019]

Alderson, West Virginia, USA

No matter which way you drive into town, lions start appearing everywhere! Your first thought is that Alderson must have a very active Lion's Club. Then, you read the red marker (below) and learn that the town's mascot was adopted from a traveling circus and roamed free until he frightened a traveling salesman. After that, lions had to be leashed. [2021]

Matthews, North Carolina, USA

If your meals come from the farmers' market here in Matthews, you are considered a locavore. In fact, you are a premium locavore since your food comes from producers located within 50 miles of town rather than the standard 100-mile radius which is the outer limit of a locavore's range. But, let's face it, most of us are distavores. [2020]

New Kent, Virginia, USA

Green vs. New Kent County went to the Supreme Court and forced localities nationwide to actually desegregate schools in line with the Brown decision of 1954. To unveil the historical marker, the Green family assembled to honor their patriarch, Calvin Coolidge Green, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of his grade-school son, Charles (far right), in 1965. [2021]

Bridgeton, New Jersey, USA

♫ These Are a Few of My Favorite Things ♫ ~ Murals: An otherwise blank slate has been turned into a cross between an historical marker and a wall painting. It is a reminder of Bridgeton's industrial past. Mural art can commemorate the past, mimic the present, or anticipate the future. And, sometimes, murals are just fun. [2016]

Washington Court House, Ohio, USA

County seats are places where ideals are expressed in architecture, where justice is meted out impartially, where even the tyranny of time falls beneath the law, where patriotism and local loyalties are on display, where service in the armed forces is memorialized, and where history is made and marked. [2016]

Sheffield, Massachusetts, USA

What happened here in 1969 is a bit of a mystery, but it involves a covered bridge, a UFO, an abduction, and multiple witnesses to something. If only the Upper Sheffield Covered Bridge (rebuilt in 1999) could talk! Actually, if it could talk it would tell you more than this rather useless black-and-chrome marker has to say about the incident. [2019]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Do you put your city hall in the center of civic life? Philadelphians do. Since it was laid out in ____ (Read the historical marker!), the center square was intended to anchor the city. It was not until 1871, however, that construction would begin on the "Second Empire" building that dominates the city today. Who is that man on top? [2017]

Vermontville, Michigan, USA

There's a little patch of New England in mid-Michigan, and Vermontville is its unofficial capital city. Just as you would expect, here is the Congregational Church, planted here after a Congregational minister visited the area in 1835. Even the architecture is reminiscent of the New England "meetinghouse." [2018]

Oxford, Ohio, USA

Black (Pugh's Mill) Bridge. "One of the few remaining covered bridges in southwestern Ohio." So sayeth the historical marker erected by the Ohio Bicentennial Commission and three partners. Want to know when it was built? Read more. Want to know the type of truss? Forget it. [2010]

North East, Maryland, USA

Gilpin's Falls Covered Bridge. "The bridge is one of the few left in Maryland." So sayeth the historical marker erected by the Maryland Historical Society. Want to know when it was built? Read more. Want to know the type of truss? Forget it. Want to know the name of the past president of the historical society? No, but it's there anyway. [2008]

Landrum, South Carolina, USA

Campbell's Covered Bridge. "This bridge . . . is the last extant covered bridge in S.C." So sayeth the historical marker erected by the Cherokee Foothills National Scenic Byway Association. Want to know when it was built or the type of truss? Read more. [2005]

Smyrna, Georgia, USA

"The Concord Covered Bridge has the distinction of being the only covered bridge still in use on a public highway in the metropolitan Atlanta area." So sayeth the historical marker erected by the Bicentennial Commission. Want to know when it was built or the type of truss? Read more. [2018]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Everything originates somewhere and spreads from there. That's what geographers call culturl diffusion. Here's an historical marker that allows us to put Mother's Day on the map. The celebration originated in Philadelphia (apologies to West Virginia) in 1908 and became national in 1914. Today, almost 50 countries have an official Mother's Day celebration. [2017]