What You Need To Know To Request A New Hampshire State Highway Historical Marker

The New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources (DHR) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) are responsible for the state's historical highway marker program, authorized by RSA 227 C:4, X, and RSA 236:40 44. Any municipality, agency, organization or individual may propose a marker to commemorate significant New Hampshire places, persons, or events. The DHR may also solicit suggestions for markers, texts, and proposed locations from other agencies, organizations, and the public.

Marker requests should include a draft text, supported by footnotes, a bibliography, and copies of background research, along with a recommendation for the location of the marker. The proposed text should stress why the subject is distinctive and significant to the state's residents and visitors, and why it merits the special status conferred by a state historical marker. A footnote must cite the source of information for each historical fact presented in the draft text, and copies of the source material must be submitted.

State law requires that each request must be accompanied by a petition supporting the proposed marker, signed by 20 or more "citizens of the state."

The standard format for a state marker is a title line and a text of eleven lines, having 33 to 35 spaces per line (or a maximum of 14 lines, with 43 to 45 spaces per line). A two-line title reduces the number of text lines by one. Each letter in a word counts as one space; spaces between words count as one space each; periods and commas are not counted. One space is allowed for a set of quotation marks.

The proposed text and research are reviewed by the DHR, which reserves the right of final decision and editorial changes for each text to make it consistent with current marker practices. Sponsors will be notified of official action on their requests.

In approving a marker, the DHR takes into consideration the distribution of markers by geographical regions (Great North Woods, White Mountains, Lakes, Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee, Monadnock, Merrimack Valley and Seacoast), chronological periods, and historical themes. Preference is given to placing markers at locations that are not already adequately marked by private or public groups, and to avoid placement of markers near historical homes in private ownership that are not open to the public, unless written consent is obtained from the owners.

Sponsors may propose a marker location, but the Department of Transportation selects the specific place to install the marker, to insure compliance with safety, legal, and state constitutional requirements for transportation expenditures.

When a proposed text is approved, the marker is ordered either under the regular program (limited to ten markers per year, on the state-maintained highway system), or the cooperative program (for highways maintained by municipalities, or when the limit of ten state-funded markers per year has been exceeded.) Costs of the markers authorized under the "regular" (state-funded) marker program are charged to the state Transportation Fund, and costs of the markers approved under the "cooperative" program are paid by the sponsor. Cooperative markers are erected pursuant to a formally executed contract between the state and the municipality in which the marker is to be located. At present, markers cost approximately $1,500 to $1,800 each, and there is a waiting list for both regular and cooperative markers.

For more information, please contact the NH Division of Historical Resources, Department of Cultural Resources, 19 Pillsbury Street, Concord, NH 03301-3570. DHR resource materials are available in alternate formats on request. Contact the DHR at 603-271-3483, or Voice/TDD Relay Access 1-800-735-2964, or via FAX at 603-271-3433, or by e-mail.

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