The Historical Marker Bulletin Board

So there’s some upcoming marker dedications that might be worth attending…

Plaque Unveiling Honoring Amelia Earhart at Her Former Home, Monday, October 27 at 6 pm at 27 Barrow Street (just off of Bleecker Street) in Greenwhich Village in New York City. This is Village Preservation’s (formerly known as Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation) 26th marker. Seeing as we already have their first 25, let’s see if we can keep the streak going. They record all their dedications, so be sure to wear your HMdb hat and photobomb the camera to gain some street cred with your fellow marker hunters.

And while the above is my main reason for posting this, here’s a few more future dedications in case you can’t make this one…

A marker honoring artist Caroline Clowes will be dedicated at 3pm on October 24 at 342 South St. in Poughkeepsie, NY.

A Presidio San Agustin del Tucson DAR Revolutionary America marker will be dedicated on October 25 at 10am at 196 N. Court Avenue in Tucson, AZ.

A Legends & Lore Marker for Harry S. Thobe will be dedicated on October 25 at 10 am at 131 W. Chestnut Street in Oxford, Ohio.

A Wyandot Removal Trail & Upper Sandusky historical marker will be dedicated on October 25 at 10am the Wyandot Mission Church at 200 East Church St. in Sandusky, Ohio.

A marker commemorating the Chesapeake & Nashville Railroad will be dedicated on October 30 at 4pm at 766 East Main Street in Scottsville, Kentucky.

(The preceding 5 all involve our friends at the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, so consult their events calendar if more details are desired.)

A Kentucky Historical Society marker for Peter Postell will be dedicated at 2pm on October 25 at Postell Plaza (corner of 6th and Virginia) in Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

A state historical marker and a monument for the R.E. Hunt High School will be dedicated on October 30 at 5pm at the Hunt Intermediate School (924 N. 20th St.) in Columbus, Mississippi.

And that’s all I got. Even if you can’t attend any of these, you can always put them on your shopping list for when you’re next passing through any of these places…

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Reply No. 2455 posted Monday, March 23, 2026, at 10:58 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Steve Stoessel of Niskayuna, New York

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Reply No. 2456 posted Monday, March 23, 2026, at 8:10 PM ET
by Regional Editor Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California

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Reply No. 2469 posted Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 12:43 AM ET
by Regional Editor Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California

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Reply No. 2471 posted Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 1:45 PM ET
by Series Editor Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama

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Reply No. 2472 posted Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 6:20 PM ET
by Regional Editor Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California

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William G. Pomeroy Foundation Markers

Note No. 2460 posted Sunday, April 26, 2026, at 1:24 PM ET
by Contributing Editor Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia

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Reply No. 2461 posted Monday, April 27, 2026, at 11:28 AM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Mike McKeown of Baltimore, Maryland

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Reply No. 2464 posted Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 6:25 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Craig Baker of Sylmar, California

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Reply No. 2470 posted Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 1:20 AM ET
by Regional Editor Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California

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Introducing the Regions Overlay

Note No. 2467 posted Monday, May 11, 2026, at 5:08 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Reply No. 2468 posted Monday, May 11, 2026, at 5:15 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Knox Revolutionary war Trail

Note No. 2466 posted Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 12:29 PM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Mike McKeown of Baltimore, Maryland

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Cesar Chavez Exposé

Note No. 2457 posted Friday, March 27, 2026, at 2:22 PM ET
by an HMdb correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous

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Reply No. 2465 posted Thursday, May 7, 2026, at 6:33 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Craig Baker of Sylmar, California

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The 1890 House Marker

Note No. 2462 posted Monday, May 4, 2026, at 7:32 AM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Mira Earls of Cortland, New York

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Reply No. 2463 posted Monday, May 4, 2026, at 11:30 AM ET
by an HMdb correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous

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Call for Volunteers: National Historic Marker Weekend

Note No. 2459 posted Monday, April 13, 2026, at 9:57 AM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Wikipedia article about historical marker

Note No. 2458 posted Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 11:53 AM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Conrad Ward of Guilford, Connecticut

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Upside Down Traffic Light Explained on a New Marker

Note No. 2449 posted Thursday, March 19, 2026, at 2:38 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Reply No. 2454 posted Saturday, March 21, 2026, at 12:54 PM ET
by Series Editor Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama

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Photo Size

Note No. 2452 posted Friday, March 20, 2026, at 10:05 PM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington

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Reply No. 2453 posted Friday, March 20, 2026, at 11:50 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Contacting a contributor for permission to use their image - any suggestions?

Note No. 2450 posted Friday, March 20, 2026, at 5:19 AM ET
by Registered User Steph Lay of Milton Keynes, England

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Reply No. 2451 posted Friday, March 20, 2026, at 6:32 PM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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old documents from the San Felipe High School

Note No. 2446 posted Monday, March 9, 2026, at 3:13 PM ET
by Registered User Brandt A Wilburn of Conroe, Texas

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Reply No. 2447 posted Saturday, March 14, 2026, at 5:01 PM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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Markers planed for removal

Note No. 2444 posted Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 6:19 PM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Mike McKeown of Baltimore, Maryland

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Reply No. 2445 posted Sunday, March 8, 2026, at 7:09 PM ET
by an HMdb correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous

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No public version of our profiles?

Note No. 2438 posted Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 2:48 AM ET
by an HMdb correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous

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Reply No. 2442 posted Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 9:06 AM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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Reply No. 2443 posted Sunday, March 1, 2026, at 1:50 AM ET
by an HMdb correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous

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Submitting permanently-removed markers

Note No. 2436 posted Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at 7:27 PM ET
by an HMdb correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous

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Reply No. 2437 posted Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 9:11 PM ET
by Contributing Editor Craig Baker of Sylmar, California

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Reply No. 2439 posted Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 10:29 AM ET
by Series Editor Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama

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Reply No. 2440 posted Thursday, February 26, 2026, at 11:12 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois

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Reply No. 2441 posted Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 8:59 AM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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Missing plaques in St. Louis

Note No. 2434 posted Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 11:22 PM ET
by Contributing Editor Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois

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How to submit an addition to Links to Other Historical Marker Sites

Note No. 2430 posted Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at 3:52 PM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Kevin Vincent of Arlington, Virginia

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Reply No. 2433 posted Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 3:18 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Craig Baker of Sylmar, California

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HMDB 9-11 Memorials get a mention on Youtuber video

Note No. 2431 posted Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at 7:01 PM ET
by an HMdb correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous

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Jefferson Highway Marker Locations

Note No. 2427 posted Sunday, February 15, 2026, at 12:28 PM ET
by Contributing Editor Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana

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Reply No. 2429 posted Monday, February 16, 2026, at 9:53 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois

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New Interpretive Sign at Crowheart Butte, Wyoming

Note No. 2426 posted Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 9:59 AM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Arkansas highlights 11 historical locations with new markers for America’s 250th birthday.

Note No. 2425 posted Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at 1:12 PM ET
by Series Editor Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama

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Grants Available for Fixing up Historic Houses

Note No. 2423 posted Monday, February 2, 2026, at 4:00 PM ET
by Registered User Holly Seddon of Atlanta, Georgia

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Reply No. 2424 posted Monday, February 2, 2026, at 8:23 PM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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Thank you!

Note No. 2421 posted Monday, January 19, 2026, at 10:15 AM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Shirley A Stirling of Lacey, Washington

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Reply No. 2422 posted Monday, January 19, 2026, at 5:28 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Chicago 1000!

Note No. 2414 posted Friday, January 9, 2026, at 12:43 PM ET
by Contributing Editor Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois

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Chicago, Illinois, cracked 1000 markers last month, the 8th city to reach that level. I thought I would take the opportunity

Map of Chicago listings

to look at some of the highlights from the Windy City's 232 square miles.

First Chicago entry on the database: Victory, WWI Memorial to Black Soldiers.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=4683
This war memorial in Bronzeville was posted by Richard Miller in 2008 using photos from 1995. I visited it last spring and it's still in the same spot in the median of South State Street and looking good. It was erected in honor of the 8th Infantry of the Illinois National Guard, whose troops came from this historically Black neighborhood on the south side. This was the most viewed of any Chicago listing until last fall's bot boost :-).

First Chicago historical marker on the database: Lion House, Lincoln Park Zoo.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=10653
Kathy Walker posted this marker as well as eight other markers in Lincoln Park back in the late summer of 2008. There would be no new entries from Chicago for more than two years, until September 2010.

Chicago Landmarks.
https://www.hmdb.org/results.asp?Search=Series&SeriesID=328
Almost one-quarter (248) of Chicago's markers were erected by the city's official Commission on Chicago Landmarks or its predecessors. The honored sites tend to reflect the commission’s original purpose from the 1960s, to preserve historic structures in an era when many were being demolished. As a result, most markers are about buildings and architectural achievements, and less commonly about notable people other than architects. It’s not a surprise that architecture is the number one topic in Chicago.

The commission currently issues two types of markers. One is a dark square plaque, in use consistently since the 1970s. They're quite lovely! (Here’s one: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=242542) The other primary markers are the less lovely, dual-sided rectangular signs placed atop lampposts within landmark districts (often in duplicate: there are at least 17 Logan Square Boulevard markers! https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=234593).

Other series:
https://www.hmdb.org/results.asp?Search=Series&SeriesID=692
https://www.hmdb.org/results.asp?Search=Series&SeriesID=773
https://www.hmdb.org/results.asp?Search=Series&SeriesID=801
Two official marker series include Chicago Tribute, a late-1990s program to honor notable Chicagoans, and Chicago’s Charter Jubilee, a 1937 series celebrating Chicago's 100th anniversary as a city. Another series (and my personal obsession) is for markers related to anything manmade inside Chicago’s city limits that pre-dates the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and is still standing. They’re pretty rare!

Oldest marker: The Firefighters Memorial at Rosehill Cemetery.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=94343
The memorial was erected in 1864 and added to the database by William Fischer Jr. in 2016.

Most-viewed marker (bot-enhanced): Illinois-Indiana Boundary Marker.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=237902
The obelisk at this site is one of the oldest man-made structures in Chicago, dating to 1838; if there ever was text on the marker it is completely eroded, so the obelisk itself does not qualify for the database. However, an explanatory sign on the Illinois side of the obelisk is the easternmost historical marker in Chicago’s city limits.

Westernmost marker: Resthaven Cemetery.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=259725
This tiny cemetery for German settlers is completely surrounded by O’Hare Airport, located near a FedEx processing center. This is the only Chicago listing in DuPage County, where the city annexed about three square miles for the airport.

Northernmost marker: Triangle Park. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=267961

Southernmost marker: Activists in the Anti-Slavery Movement.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=261062
This is a very cool site, remarkably serene for being inside the city limits. Dutch settlers here around 1850 opened their farm to the Underground Railroad.

Centralmost marker: Veterans Memorial at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=258502
Apparently, the central point on the Chicago map is at 37th and Honore streets in the south-side McKinley Park neighborhood. This memorial is about 3 blocks east and 1 block south.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears
Everyone in Chicagoland is excited about the Bears, who will host an NFL playoff game against the Packers on Saturday. Only 6 of the 56 Chicago listings about sports explicitly mention the Bears: two markers about team founder George “Papa Bear” Halas, one about legendary running back Walter Payton, a statue for longtime announcer Jack Brickhouse, and two plaques at Wrigley Field, where the Bears played home games from 1921 until 1970.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=188238
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=234164
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=234169
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=47668
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=192529
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=187160

Most-viewed non-Chicago marker in Cook County: The Historic Maywood Home for Soldiers' Widows.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=187748
There are almost 700 markers in Cook County outside of Chicago’s city limits, including this one in west suburban Maywood that Andrew Ruppenstein added in 2021. I live kind of close to this sign, and for as long as I can remember it's looked on the verge of tipping over. And yet, I can confirm that it's still there as of last week :-)
Chicago HMdb listings

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Reply No. 2415 posted Friday, January 9, 2026, at 9:33 PM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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Reply No. 2416 posted Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 10:55 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois

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Reply No. 2418 posted Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 10:31 PM ET
by Contributing Editor Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois

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HMdb.org is Twenty Years Old! — and 2025 In Review! (Part 4 - Marker Entries Per Year)

Note No. 2398 posted Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 12:30 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Reply No. 2403 posted Friday, January 2, 2026, at 11:54 PM ET
by Contributing Editor Jason Voigt of Glen Carbon, Illinois

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Just want to say a huge congratulations on the site's birthday (or anniversary - whatever you prefer to call it)! 20 years is a long time and it is great to see the database become more seen by the public, as well as more contributors adding on. There are plenty of reasons this website has remained great to those who appreciate history at all levels. First, I believe it is safe to say we have built ourselves a community-like base on this site, with people sharing ideas and helping each other out. Also, it's worth noting that many of our active contributors are spread out in just about all the major regions in the United States - and as mentioned in a previous post, now Canada! For example, we have at least a few editors from California - at least two in the Bay Area and two in the SoCal zone. We have a few in the South, and some in the northeast. I, as well as a few others, have covered the Midwest. You get the idea. Of course, we all travel outside our regions and explore other areas, like say, Montana and Alaska.

I'm sure many can relate on this one: I've got to meet some great people because of this website. I've interacted with a few outside the site, as well as meeting a couple of them in person. Some of the submissions on this site have gotten me to travel to certain places. I think Route 66 travelers will use this as one of their guides as the Mother Road will be celebrating its centennial this year. I don't remember exactly how I found this site, but it was sometime in early 2019. That was the time that I started photographing markers around the St. Louis area and southern Illinois. Like everyone else, it's always an exciting journey no matter where I go to search for markers as well as hidden and overlooked history. In the last few years I've had a dozen people message me on FB asking me about markers that I put on here. (Usually I tell them I just submitted the marker and sometimes I know nothing beyond the subject's history!)

Again, congratulations on 20 years - and belatedly, on 250K published pages. Perspective-wise, that's a quarter of a million! A special thanks to all the editors who have helped all of us out and were patient and answered our questions. Admittingly, I still feel bad to this day that I had some editor type out a very long marker I submitted (it was my second one), but it was just to see how and what the format looked like. So anyway, hope everyone has a great 2026 and happy hunting

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Reply No. 2412 posted Friday, January 9, 2026, at 6:27 AM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Mike McKeown of Baltimore, Maryland

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2025 In Review! (Part 3 - Topics)

Note No. 2397 posted Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 12:02 PM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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Reply No. 2411 posted Thursday, January 8, 2026, at 9:31 AM ET
by an HMdb correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous

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MCMWTC Branding Iron

Note No. 2407 posted Sunday, January 4, 2026, at 11:37 PM ET
by Registered User MIchael Roger Clark of Kernersville, North Carolina

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Reply No. 2410 posted Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at 3:13 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Craig Baker of Sylmar, California

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535 North Perry

Note No. 2406 posted Sunday, January 4, 2026, at 12:52 PM ET
by Registered User Jim Flogaus of Napoleon, Ohio

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Reply No. 2409 posted Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at 2:33 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Craig Baker of Sylmar, California

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2025 In Review! (Part 6 - Marker Hunters Over the Years)

Note No. 2400 posted Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 1:35 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Reply No. 2408 posted Monday, January 5, 2026, at 9:23 PM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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The First Database Entry of Our Third Decade

Note No. 2401 posted Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 11:04 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Reply No. 2402 posted Friday, January 2, 2026, at 12:05 AM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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2025 In Review! (Part 5 - Golden Ms)

Note No. 2399 posted Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 1:09 PM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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J.J. -- Thank you so much! That segues great into the next post!

And without further ado, it's time to share the superlatives among our prolific marker hunters for 2024!

The Golden M is a prestige given to contributors who file at least 1,000 historical markers and war memorials in a calendar year. This year, we have 6!

1. James Hulse with 2,010 entries filed. He is only the fourth contributor to file over 2,000 entries in one year. He filed his 100th entry back in 2020 and has been in the Top 10 for 6 continuous years, with 5 of them being Golden M years. He is also State Champion for 10 states, particularly Oklahoma, Texas, Normandy (France), Baden-Württemberg (Germany), Bavaria (Germany), Rheinland-Palatinate (Germany) and Latium (Italy), where he has contributed the most marker profiles on HMdb. Additionally, he is the 6th most prolific contributor on the site as of today. Major congratulations!!!

2. Devry Becker Jones with 1,451 entries filed. It’s been so cool to be part of this online project and help tell stories, particularly in the Northeastern Corridor. Thank you to my very supportive spouse, Sean, for putting up with me as I stop the car in random areas and beat snow off signs with an umbrella so that they can be photographed.

3. Craig Doda with 1,227 entries filed. He also filed his 100th entry back in 2020 and has also been in the Top 10 for 6 continuous years, with 5 of them being Golden M years. He is also State Champion for 4 states, particularly Ohio where he has contributed the most profiles on HMdb. Finally, he is the 5th most prolific contributor on the site as of today.

4. Cosmos Mariner with 1,210 entries filed. He entered the elite 10K Club of prolific contributors this year! His 100th entry was submitted back in 2014. He has been in the Top 10 for 9 continuous years, with 8 of them being Golden M years. As far as being State Champion, he is named in 23 states and provinces, notably (in the United States) Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and North Dakota; and (in Canada) Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Québec and Saskatchewan where he has contributed the most profiles. As of today, Cosmos Mariner is the 3rd most prolific contributor on HMdb as of today.

5. Sean P. Flynn with 1,034 entries filed. He filed his 100th entry back in 2023 and this makes his second year in the Top 10 and first named for a Golden M. He is a State Champion in 3 states and provinces, notably Illinois and Tuscany (Italy) where he is the most prolific contributor. As of today, Sean is the 32nd most prolific contributor on HMdb.

6. And finally, we have the legendary William Fischer, Jr. with 1,020 entries filed. He filed his 100th entry all the way back in 2008 and he’s been active ever since! He has been in the Top 10 for 17 years since then, only missing 2022. Of those years, 7 of them have been Golden M years. Additionally, regardless of Golden M status, Bill has been the most prolific contributor for 7 years, starting in 2010. He is a State Champion in 22 states and provinces notably (in the United States) Alaska, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington; (in Canada) Nova Scotia; (in the Republic of Ireland) Connacht, Leinster, and Munster; and (in the UK) Northern Ireland, where he has been the most prolific contributor. As of today, he is the second most prolific contributor ever on HMdb, and for years he was the site’s most prolific contributor.

As always, thank you to all of the contributors, contributing editors and editors who put in a lot of work to keep this resource up, running and growing for the whole world to use. It takes all of us and this work of passion is educational and entertaining.

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2025 In Review! (Part 2 - Counties and equivalents)

Note No. 2396 posted Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 11:19 AM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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2025 In Review! (Part 1 - States and a Province)

Note No. 2395 posted Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 10:31 AM ET
by Managing Editor Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia

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It's that time again where we look at how HMdb grew over the past year! First of all, we had 25,466 new markers submitted in 2025! That's over 2,100 per month over the year!

Then we're going to dive deeper into the information. Let's look at the top states:

1. Ontario (1849)
2. New York (1845)
3. Ohio (1544)
4. Texas (1414)
5. Virginia (1407
6. Pennsylvania (1226)
7. Illinois (1009)
8. North Carolina (981)
9. Utah (849)
10. California (697)

The first thing that you'll notice here is that the state (well, province) with the most added marker profiles is Ontario, Canada! This is the first time that a region outside of the United States takes the top spot!

A couple honorable mentions come in here: Oklahoma is the United States' #10 with 599 markers. Additionally the second most popular area outside of the United States is the United Kingdom's constituent country of England with 548 markers.

Now let's look at states by the growth. The following U.S. states had the highest proportionate number of markers found with in them from January 1 through December 31, 2025:

1. Utah (32%)
2. Oklahoma (29%)
3. Colorado (21.78%)
4. New Mexico (21.59%)
5. North Dakota (19%)
6. Illinois (17%)
7. Washington (15.27%)
8. North Carolina (15.24%)
9. Nebraska (14.82%)
10. Minnesota (14%)

By major growth, most of these states are west of the Mississippi River.

Then there's the international view of states and equivalents by growth. For our purposes, I only included areas where 100 or more markers were added (with large cities mentioned):

1. Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (think Mainz) (94%)
2. Tuscany, Italy (think Florence) (85%)
3. Connacht, Ireland (think Galway) (82%)
4. Flanders, Belgium (thing Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges) (69%)
5. Latium, Italy (think Rome) (58%)
6. Normandy, France (think Rouen and Caen) (56%)
7. Ontario, Canada (think Toronto) (42%)
8. Utah, USA (think Salt Lake City) (32.12%)
9. Bavaria, Germany (think Munich) (31.55%)
10. Oklahoma, USA (think Oklahoma City and Tulsa) (29%)

As you can see, most of these locations are within Europe, with Canada and the U.S. each getting some mention.

Internationally, only Ontario and Utah made both lists. Within the United States, Utah, Illinois and North Carolina made both lists. Are there any surprises here for you? Did you explore any of these areas?

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And the 250,000th Marker Entry Is ...

Note No. 2394 posted Thursday, January 1, 2026, at 10:11 AM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Wagner/Holum Farmstead

Note No. 2392 posted Tuesday, December 23, 2025, at 9:29 PM ET
by an HMdb correspondent who wishes to remain anonymous

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Reply No. 2393 posted Saturday, December 27, 2025, at 2:38 AM ET
by Contributing Editor Craig Baker of Sylmar, California

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Two Database Milestones Approaching!

Note No. 2373 posted Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at 10:52 AM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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The Historical Marker Database will soon hold more than 250,000 entries, and it will be 20 years old in January. And there is

a good chance we’ll reach both milestones at around the same time!

Our editors published more than two thousand new marker pages in the last 30 days (wow!) but both colder weather and the holidays are approaching so things should slow down a bit in November and December. So the question is, will we reach 250,000 entries in December or January? Keep an eye on the Marker Counter on our home page!

We’ve been celebrating database milestones by awarding genuine faux parchment certificates to the lucky contributors who push us over the milestones with their published entries. This time we’ll award two: One to the submitter of the 250,000th entry, and another to the submitter of the first entry of 2026. The rules are simple:

For both milestones, the governing timestamp is the timestamp recorded by the database after you click the Submit button on the SECOND screen of the Add-A-Marker sequence AND when all the information you submit on that screen arrives at our server. (If for some odd reason you are still using the old Add-A-Marker forms, the governing timestamp will be recorded when you click Submit for the first time on the “very long form.”) Only entries that are subsequently published qualify.

Our server clock is set for the U.S. Eastern time zone, so the first entry of 2026 will be the first entry that arrives at or after midnight, server time, on the midnight that rings in the new year. Entries can be published out of turn, so when we publish the 250,000th entry and subsequently clear all the other entries in the queue, I’ll look back at the timestamps to determine who submitted the 250,000th published entry.

I continue to be amazed at the amount of local history we’ve all collected over the last two decades. When I started the database, I could not have believed that there were these many historical markers out there for us to find. And I could not have believed that there were these many people that would band together to catalog them into this database. What a great community we are! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

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Reply No. 2390 posted Monday, December 8, 2025, at 4:35 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Reply No. 2391 posted Sunday, December 21, 2025, at 11:28 PM ET
by Editor and Publisher J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio

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Wikidata

Note No. 2388 posted Sunday, December 7, 2025, at 5:32 PM ET
by Contributing Correspondent Conrad Ward of Guilford, Connecticut

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I've been going down a rabbit hole recently, exploring the world of Wikidata which, as described on its home page, acts as the central storage for the structured data that can be used by its sister projects, of course Wikipedia, but also anyone else too. Pretty much all Wikipedia pages also have a Wikidata page, plus many things that don't have a Wikipedia page, likely given that it is easier to create a Wikidata page than a Wikipedia page. I believe Wikidata still follows the same notability requirements of Wikipedia. Wikidata keeps track of many statistics and information used by Wikipedia and beyond (just like what we add in when we fill out a marker page) as well as links to other authority websites and databases (called "external identifiers"). And it turns out that several websites I use and contribute to are external identifiers, including the Historical Marker Database!
Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Main_Page
Wikidata page for HMDB external identifier: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P7883
Wikidata HMDB external identifier original proposal

It seems like when HMDB was being originally proposed as an identifier, there was some misunderstanding that HMDB would fit well on building pages (i.e. a building with a historical marker on it). Someone asked, 'what happens if there's more than one marker?' A reply came that 'they combine markers together into a single page when that happens,' and provided an example where apparently we did.

My take is that many historical markers are noteworthy in themselves, and one could easily have Wikipedia articles documenting grand old war memorials in towns, documenting the history and the facts, from the dedication ceremony to present day. So I took a look around for monuments already in the database of 119 million pages (compares to the English Wikipedia's 7 million articles). And I found the National Iwo Jima Memorial.
Wikidata entry for the National Iwo Jima Memorial
I found the equivalent page on HMDB, noted the link ID of 42306, clicked "Add Statement" in the list of Identifiers, plugged in the number, and then Publish. And there we go, HMDB is now an authoritative source for this subject.

HMDB identifier stats: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property_talk:P7883
(435 uses so far)
Map of HMDB identifiers: : https://tinyurl.com/y8rzzzbt

A few observations. It seems like there is a discussion of fixing the problem of HMDB identifiers being used on places where the subject isn't the historical marker itself. It is also noted that the "expected completeness" of HMDB identifier is "always incomplete," not because I think they are trying to compete with some and not other websites, but I believe recognizing that hypothetically in a world of unlimited resources to improve Wikidata, the fact of the matter is that some historical markers are not notable enough to have Wikidata pages.

Part of the reason I came here is through two brilliant maps put together combining OpenStreetMap data and Wikidata. Note that OpenStreetMap is probably one of the most popular external identifiers on Wikidata, the two projects really go hand in hand. OpenStreetMap if anything has even more extensive attributes, including of course, Wikidata ID.

Check out Open Burial Map: https://burial.dsantini.it/
The map uses OpenStreetMap and Wikidata to display cemeteries that have notable people buried in them. You click on the cemetery and it uses the Wikidata attributes to display usually the Wikipedia page, a few brief statistics about the person, and often a photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Second cool example, Open Architect Map: https://architect.dsantini.it/
You can zoom around on the map, and all the buildings that have architect attributes filled out are colorfully highlighted. A niche map, but really quite interesting way to display information.

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