Virginia Historical Highway Markers

Have you ever wonder what that big white F-28 sign in front of the Courthouse is? Or the T-23 one on the grounds of the Old Stone Church?

Intrigued after seeing so many of these on the roads and highways of Virginia, I did a little research. I found out that they are Virginia Historical Highway Markers and that there are more than 2,200 of them all over the state. The idea was conceived by Richard C. Wight, an amateur historian, who proposed to Governor E. Lee Trinkle a plan for a state-funded system of roadside markers to indicate locations of historical significance. You can go visit Encyclopedia Virginia for more details on the elaboration of the program.

Also, the Department of Historic Resources has a very nice search engine that shows the result of your search on a google map. And there is even a guidebook that was publish in 2007 for the 80th anniversary of the program. New signs are still going up nowadays, so if you have any ideas to add to the 34 current locations of Loudoun County, you can fill the paperwork to sponsor one!

NB: For all the incorrigible collectors like me that now want to visit every possible markers and take pictures of them, go visit www.hmdb.org.