New York State Historical Markers: It Happened Here

It Happened Here-- The Markers Revisited, (Or--Hey, I'm Back !)

After six years and 134 posts I stopped posting in September 2013 and continued this rather long hiatus until recently. On a random afternoon, a few weeks ago, I was perusing through some of my old blog posts and happened to glance at "Google Analytics". To my astonishment, I discovered the blog had recorded over 120,000 "page views" and it continues to accumulate them, years after year! (One thing about writing history, I guess you don't have to worry about the subject matter getting old!). The medical issues that discouraged me from continuing have not worsened, and Hell, I'm STILL younger than the last two president we have had. So I thought, "What the hey--Maybe I will start blogging again."

In case you are new to this blog, I am reposting part of the original introduction to the Blog.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

It Happened Here--A Blog About NewYork State Historical Markers

They stand in rolling grassy battlefields.

and on the manicured lawns of historic houses,

and in modest places of honor on village greens;

They also stand ignored on weedy towpaths,

rusting on the overgrown margins of a farmer's field,

and knocked askew from the assaults of snowplows and errant automobiles, along empty stretches of New York's highways.

They are the blue and yellow cast iron /aluminum markers of New York State Historical Markers*.

Welcome to It Happened Here—A Blog about New York State's Historical Markers. While every state in the union has historical markers to point out historic events and places in their states, New York has an extensive collection of perhaps 3000 free standing cast iron and cast aluminum markers. The first New York State Historic Markers (NYSHM's) were produced in 1926 to commemorate the bicentennial of George Washington's birth. They were greeted with such enthusiasm by the public that the State Legislature decided to continue the program under the auspices of the NYS Department of Education, with a large release of markers occurring in 1932 and 1933. Local governments with the help of local historical and civic societies were asked to make proposals for specific markers. Hundreds were produced through the 1930's. Production dropped off at the end of the decade and virtually ceased during the War years. In 1944 the Legislature decided to eliminate funding for the highway marker program explaining that the nature of automobile travel had changed. Cars were now simply going too fast for drivers to read the roadside signs. Legislators expressed fears that the signs might even become traffic hazards, tempting drivers to stop or slow down to read them. At the same time, the Department of Education encouraged local governments and civic organizations themselves, to continue to produce historical markers for local parks and public spaces, suggesting they should develop their own formats to distinguish their signs from the State markers.

Town, village, city and county governments responded as did local and county historical societies, and civic organizations. Ad hoc groups. and commissions formed to commemorate a specific event realized the creation and dedication of an historical marker was an attractive activity that could get the public involved. Companies, families, foundations and individuals created their own markers. Over 500 local governments, groups and individuals would sponsor NYSHM's. In recent decades the Pomeroy Foundation has encouraged and underwritten the creation of historic signs by individuals and local groups.

******

In case you would like to see some of my original posts, they are still available on line. Here is a list of them. If it is not too late for NewYear's resolutions, henceforth, I expect to post about 2x's per month.

Index to Blog Posts/ by Publication Date

To find any listed Blog Post look down the list of titles to find any that interest you. Note the month/year of posting. Go to a recent blog post and look for that month/year in the menu on the right. Click on the year, then month. Your title will come up with the others from that month. Click on your chosen title and the blog post will appear.