Historical Marker WY 11-a: Peter Jacob Carter Photo credit: Jean E Flynn
The Northampton County Board of Supervisors has approved an Historical Local Marker Program (LMP) in collaboration with the Northampton250 committee that is gearing up for the 250th anniversary of the founding of our Country.
The Board has already given $10,000 in funding for the program and now has approved the policy and guideline process that will oversee how the marker program will proceed.
The Northampton County, Virginia Historical Local Marker Program (LMP) is designed to promote resident and visitor interest and education in the rich history of Northampton County, from pre-Colonial times to the 20th Century. The time period covers the Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Age highlighting the role of Northampton County's historic events, people, buildings, and places in molding our nation and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Following Virginia§ 10.1-2210, the LMP is governed by the Northampton Board of Supervisors that appoints a group to be responsible for the application process.
Northampton County has chosen to implement a LMP in addition to the traditional Virginia Department of Historic Resources Highway Marker Program because the program will:
1) Broaden the location of marker locations to include other public properties besides highway roadsides, such as trails and parks.
2) Maintain more local control over the content and scope of markers chosen to meet local interests and initiatives with a local committee approving selections.
3)Expedite the selection and installation process.
4) Eliminate competition with other municipalities in the selection process.
To ensure the integrity and accuracy of the County's markers, an application process has been developed. Not all applications will be selected. Applicants can still apply to DHR for a state marker and applications rejected by DHR can still be submitted to Northampton's LMP. The LMP Committee does not submit applications to DHR for their Highway Marker Program. The LMP program does not include "wayside" or interpretive markers, which include more text and graphics.
LMP markers shall be of the same type and style approved by the County LMP Committee. Only the following will appear on the marker: the Northampton County seal, identification code, title, text, "Northampton County," and the year the marker is approved. Applicants may be fully responsible for funding the costs of manufacture and installation of the marker, however, grant opportunities are available and an application does not commit the applicant to fund the marker. The marker will be the property of Northampton County.
Eligibility:
1) Any resident or locally-affiliated organization (non-profit, religious, or commercial) may nominate a site or topic for a Northampton marker.
2) Locations for the marker can include churches, schools, commercial structures, historic neighborhoods, cemeteries, or private residences.
3) The location marker must be installed within Northampton County in a spot accessible to the general public. If on private property, the marker must be easily viewable from a road, walkway, or trail.
4) The marker viewing location should be handicapped accessible, however, the marker is mounted on a ten-foot pole, which is above the viewing range of handicap access.
5) No marker can commemorate a living person.
6)The significance of a person or event must have taken place at least fifty years prior to application.
7)Primary and secondary sources must substantiate the commemoration to ensure the history is accurate.
For further details please see:
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA LOCAL HISTORICAL MARKER PROGRAM GUIDELINES AND APPLICATION (PDF)
Please visit our Historical Markers page to learn more about historical markers in our County.
Please visit the Northampton250 page for REVOLUTIONARY SHORE!
A Self-Guided Driving Tour of Northampton County, Virginia