Those with an interest in local history value the familiar gray and black Tennessee Historical Commission markers topped with the state’s distinctive tri-star symbol. The Tennessee Historical Commission marked its 100th anniversary earlier this year, but the marker program began in the 1930s.
The markers are denoted by serial numbers. For example, a conspicuous local marker is Chattanooga’s First School at 5th and Lookout Streets, denoting the location of a log structure that served the area as a schoolhouse, church and community center. Its serial numbers at the top of the marker are “2 A 76.” The number 2 indicates that the marker is in within the state Department of Transportation’s 2nd highway division (there are four). The “A” indicates a district within the division, usually three to five counties (the district including Hamilton County also includes McMinn, Bradley and Polk). The final number indicates the order in which the marker was erected in the designated district. Marker 2 A 1 marks the Hamilton/Bradley County line. Approved in June 2019, a marker commemorating Erlanger Hospital will be the newest.
For budgetary reasons, new markers require a sponsor willing to bear the cost of the casting and the erection of the marker. Extensive documentation of the historical significance of the person, place or event is necessary, along with a proposed text. The staff and members of the commission closely scrutinize both, and the original suggested text of the marker is often heavily edited. A marker must commemorate history of a “statewide significance,” although that concept is often hard to define.
Missing markers are another matter. In the past, monies have been allocated by the legislature to replace missing markers, and those monies were split evenly among the three grand divisions of the state. Because of their location mostly along highways, the markers are frequently removed for road construction and other work, or are damaged by traffic incidents.
There are six markers currently missing in Hamilton County: