Historical Markers

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Wonder how many of the thousands of people who drive by these markers ever stop to read or even acknowledge them.
Probably more than any of us would suspect.

One exmple, our largest local town has a very cool railroad museum. It really is an interesting little museum, even if one is not into trains.

It's about 80 miles north of New Orleans on Interstate 55. ( I-55 runs through the nation from Chicago down through St. Louis, Memphis and ends in New Orleans).

Anyway . . . the locals seem to unconsciously forget about it, but there were close to fifty thousand tourists
from around the world . . . that detoured off the interstate to visit that museum last year.

I could not believe those numbers !

So, my point is I'm sure many more people detour to read a historical marker as well.
 
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Great thread and photos. Here is an unusual marker at the Cedar Creek battlefield. It is located on the Valley Pike (modern Rt. 11) just past the entrance to Belle Grove, near the office of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation. The marker is referring to Signal Knob, which is behind the camera and dominates the view to the southeast of this marker, but it is quite a distance away (see second photo). I climbed Signal Knob during my visit to the area, but I did not see any comparable signage about the grave of an unknown soldier anywhere along the main trail or near the summit.

Cedar Creek marker for "Tomb of an Unknown Soldier"

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View of Signal Knob in the distance (behind the camera in the previous photo)

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At one time I had a large collection of these. Most were on the highway and you are usually going 55 miles per hour and can never read them. Or there is nowhere to park. Sadly the disk that they were save on disappeared during my many moves over the years. Here are just a very few.

By the way everyone thanks for posting. I love finding and reading the markers.

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Jacksons Valley campaign Crozet.jpg


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Did you just blow by that marker at 60 mph? No need for emergency braking and hazardous U-turn.
Check out The Historical Marker Database with over 130,000 historical markers (19,000 on the Civil War):

"...an illustrated searchable online catalog of historical information viewed through the filter of roadside and other permanent outdoor markers, monuments, and plaques. It contains photographs, inscription transcriptions, marker locations, maps, additional information and commentary, and links to more information. Anyone can add new markers to the database and update existing marker pages with new photographs, links, information and commentary." Become a marker hunter!

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My family moaned every time I stopped the car! The Sewah Company of Marietta, Ohio makes over 1,200 cast aluminum markers per year (Made in the USA!) and they dot the country. Marietta is a wonderful visit. David McCullough fell in love with the town during research for his last book, The Pioneers. I did too while doing research on my own.
 
On the Mansfield Road between Mansfield and Pleasant Hill. Had to dig out a flash drive to find this one. Taken in August 2015. Had to stomp down a little Louisiana roadside foliage to get to it.

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@weasel My fault. The sign is along the Corinth Road Hwy 2 in Mississippi and Hwy 22 in Tennessee and is an informational one showing tourists they are on the right road. This is an older sign from the 1950's lonh before GPS and before the Civil War Centennial which increased traffic to the battlefield. There are several markers along this road noting the advance and retreat of the Confederates. I hope this helps provide the context asked for.
I never really know if anyone cares to see these signs so I just photograph and post a few.
Regards
David
 
@weasel My fault. The sign is along the Corinth Road Hwy 2 in Mississippi and Hwy 22 in Tennessee and is an informational one showing tourists they are on the right road. This is an older sign from the 1950's lonh before GPS and before the Civil War Centennial which increased traffic to the battlefield. There are several markers along this road noting the advance and retreat of the Confederates. I hope this helps provide the context asked for.
I never really know if anyone cares to see these signs so I just photograph and post a few.
Regards
David

Ah, that makes sense, thanks for the clarification. I'm one of those people who always has to pull over and see historical markers, but in my part of the country there aren't any I'm aware of related to the ACW. Fortunately, there are people like you folks who take photos so I can visit them vicariously!
 
My pleasure and I will take more once this scourge has passed and we can get about again. I am 2 hours from Shiloh and haven't been there since March 7th
Regards
David
 

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