Historical markers

Back on August 12, I did a ride to the Tamarack House on the south edge of LaGrange County (Indiana), then followed a windy road (perhaps an old Indian trail?) to Kendallville where Myra was to pick me up. On the way, I encountered this historical marker.

I don’t know much about the early history of Noble County, where this sign and Kendallville are located. It’s outside the range of the Black Hawk war scare history, so I haven’t paid much attention. I take pride in being able to connect almost anything to the Black Hawk history and 1832, if you allow me a few degrees of separation, but so far I haven’t tried to work Noble County history into it.

Myra told me she had seen similar signs on US-6. So that got me to wanting to learn more.

I especially like signs that are outside a state’s system of Official Historical Markers. Michigan has a system of historical markers, as do most states, and it has some good points. To get one of these markers the history has to be verified for accuracy, sometimes to the annoyance of locals whose cherished local narratives don’t altogether stand up to scrutiny. But the state sanctioned version of history is not the only one that’s possible, so it’s interesting to see other interested groups do their own history.

The Official Markers are also fairly expensive — $2000 is a price I heard for one for the Noonday grave (which as of yet does not have one). And Michigan requires a place to park a car. I don’t like that. It often means placing the marker in places less connected to the actual history that is commemorated, just for the sake of car parking. Another example: A number of very old historical markers about Black Hawk’s retreat in Wisconsin have been moved from their original, historical locations just for the sake of car parking! Yuck. With a bicycle, you can generally stop anywhere. Who needs cars?

I am going to have to wait to learn much more about these Noble County signs. But I’ve learned that there are 71 of them (!) and there is a locally published book about them. Maybe I’ll plan a bicycle outing in Noble County for next year and buy a copy for myself by way of preparation.

I’ve also learned of this web site that an Ian Histor has put together to guide one to various state marker programs and others such as the Noble County one. It’s a worthy project, but I see that some of the web links are broken. A site like this could be a useful bicycling resource.