Local Resident Shares Her Love For Finding And Researching Local Historical Markers

Paige Carbon of FishHawk loves all aspects of local history. She especially loves finding unique historical markers.

“I’ve been doing this for more than two decades,” Carbon said. “When I travel, or even here in the Tampa Bay area, I will go around and look for historical markers. When I find them, I take a picture of it and upload it to the Historical Marker Database website.”

So, what exactly is a historical marker? It is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone or other vertical surface, and bearing text or an image in relief, or both, to commemorate one or more persons, an event, a former use of the place or some other thing. Historical markers can commemorate people, places and events that played important roles in a state or region’s history. They help educate the public through signage with distinct lettering, background colors and shapes. Historical markers are the equivalent to government signs, to identify places of historic public interest.

There are a finite number of markers out there, and just like stamp or coin collecting, you can specialize and aim to collect all of a particular subject, geographical location, era or whatever other category you like.

“Sometimes the marker will still be there, but maybe the building or the structure is no longer there,” Carbon said. “Once you see them and read the information on the marker, you start seeing them everywhere. It’s a great way to find out about local history.”

The Historical Marker Database stores permanent outdoors historical markers and commemorative plaques. It is not for memorials, dedication and donor plaques, survey disk monuments or gravestones. It is not a listing of historical sites either. Markers must be outdoors, must be permanent and must state historical or scientific facts beyond names, dates and titles. If you’re a collector or want to get started, consider uploading your discoveries to this site.

National and global events all happened somewhere, and historical markers mark the place where many occurred. But the richness of history is in its local details, details that can be insignificant on the global stage, such as the home of an individual who made a difference; a natural feature, building or byway; or just something interesting that happened nearby.

If you’d like to learn more about the historical markers, you can visit the Historical Marker Database website at www.hmdb.org.