Brentwood, Tennessee

Under Local Authority:  It's a long and peripatetic history as outlined by the Brentwood Historical Commission and the Pep Club!  Historical markers are meant to pump up the masses and make them proud of superlative achievements like being the largest church in the Tennessee Conference.  [2010]

Venice, Florida

Under Local Authority:   Living in a planned community seems to be a point of pride, especially when it was planned by a "well-known city planner."  And, thankfully, the county historical commission has explained the name Venice.  That name alone should attract the cognoscenti.  [2009]

Brunswick, Georgia

Under Local Authority:   It's not just about Confederate history.  Read the first and last paragraphs. 
A woman is named in the first paragraph, and an African-American school dominates the last paragraph.  Did you ever think of historical markers as barometers of change?  [2010]

Jacksonville, Alabama

Under Local Authority:  Even if you are not interested in the Forney family, their demographics stand in stark contrast with 21st century norms.  Nine children?  The five sons became Confederate officers.  Now you know why the local historians sponsored a maker.  [2007]

Brunswick, Georgia

Under No Authority:  An exposition without footnotes or source statements?  Just downloaded from the Internet, I guess.  If you don't like what you read, there is no one to hold responsible.  I you do like what you read, no one gets the credit.  [2009]

New Orleans, Louisiana

Under Whose Authority?   Here, under the authority of the state government, a historical marker is erected with the sponsorship of a clearly anti-Corps 'dot org.'  So much for the objectivity of state authority.  Let's keep historians in the loop and cut lose any organization with an agenda.  [2011]

Hanover Court House, Virginia

Under Whose Authority?  In Virginia, the private sector blazed the trail of historical preservation.  APVA stands for the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, and it was the nationwide leader as well.  Here, the authority is not the state, but the APVA.  [2011]

Midway, Georgia

Under Whose Authority?  In Georgia, the National Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists has taken charge of deciding what is important to commemorate on the landscape.  How might a private organization such as this make different decisions on the delivery of historical content?  [2010]

Jekyll Island, Georgia

Under Whose Authority?   Do you see historical markers as 'pure public goods'?  Only governments are wise enough to be fair to all groups and avoid extremist views when deciding what to commemorate and how to commemorate it.  Right?  Or could the private sector do a better job?  [2009]

Fredericksburg, Virginia

Under Whose Authority?  There's the state seal and the Commonwealth's motto:  "Thus Unto Tyrants."  We erect historical markers to remember the past.  But, what about the "tyrrany of the past"?  Wouldn't we be better off to just forget what went before?  Wouldn't that be liberating?  [2010]

Guilford, Connecticut

Under Whose Authority?  This marker wears the stylized seal of the State of Connecticut as if it were a crown.  The seal also appears on the state flag.  Most historical marker programs have at least one element that gives them visual and authoritative unity.  [2008]

Bayview, Maryland

Commemorating Covered Bridges:  Where you find falls on a river, you are likely to find mills.  Where you find mills, you are likely to find covered bridges.  A bridge built next to a mill enabled the miller to expand his trade area by providing access from the opposite shore.  [2008]

Mount Jackson, Virginia

Commemorating Covered Bridges:  There are only eight covered bridges left in Virginia.  Meems Bottom is probably the most famous, simply because of its accessibility.  Can you see the covered bridge across the field?  [2011]

Landrum, South Carolina

Commemorating Covered Bridges:  Here is the last covered bridge in South Carolina.  Sorry, the last extant covered bridge in South Carolina.  Every word should count on a historical marker.  Does 'extant' add even a shade of meaning to the text?  Does anyone ever use the word 'extant'?  [2006]

Miami, Ohio

Commemorating Covered Bridges:  Perhaps every covered bridge should have its own historical marker.  Only a few do.  This marker appears on the landscape because of a four-way public-private endeavor to assure that it is valued as a historical resource.  Can you find the four-way names?  [2010]