Proposal:Historic marker
| historic=marker | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Abandoned (inactive) |
| Proposed by: | CaliforniaBear |
| Tagging: | historic=marker |
| Applies to: | 
|
| Definition: | A physical, free-standing historic marker sign designating the location of an historic event, building, location or person by an authority |
| Statistics: |
|
| Rendered as: | picture |
| Draft started: | 2013-03-22 |
| RFC start: | 2013-03-22 |
Proposal
This tag is intended for free-standing markers, frequently on roadsides, designating historic events as officially recognized by an authority as worthy of recognition for its historic value.
Rationale
Historic landmarks come in many forms ranging from plaques on buildings to signposts to large, free standing structures. Currently, OSM recognizes historic monuments and memorials as official features. Historic landmarks differ from these features as they may not memorialize a person or group of persons. Instead, they provide brief snapshots of history that may involve people, locations, events, buildings, or other miscellaneous historic facts that occurred near the marker's location.
As they are historic in nature and are often placed by governmental agencies, they are likely to be permanent fixtures that can be relied on to be in place for the foreseeable future. Many organizations use a unique standard for the appearance of their markers making them easily identifiable from a distance.
This permanency allows them to be used as a fixed navigation as many are placed in rural areas that lack features that can identify a location. Indeed, many of the markers themselves are initially hard to find due to their remote location. Once located they make an excellent reference point for navigation in areas lacking other identifiable reference points. The ease of visually identifying many historic markers allows them to be noted even from a moving vehicle.
In addition to being used as fixed navigation points, historic markers can be destinations for both travelers and locals interested in history. As noted above, the markers may be hard to find due to their rural nature (e.g. Marker is located on route 999 about 2 miles north of Sometown.) Having an exact location based on an onsite survey would aid in location of the markers.
Examples
Most states in the United States have a historical marker program as do many lower level agencies such as counties and cities. For example state agencies:
- The state of California has over 1,000 markers (http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21387).
- Texas has over 21,000 historical markers (https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/)
- Kentuck has over 2,400 historic markers (https://secure.kentucky.gov/kyhs/hmdb/MarkerSearch.aspx?mode=All)
- North Carolina has over 1,600 historical markers (http://www.ncmarkers.com/search.aspx)
There are a few fan websites on the Internet devoted to historical markers all over North America.
- The Historical Marker Database (http://www.hmdb.org/) currently has 156,430 markers listed.
Markeroni (http://www.markeroni.com) currently has 161,237 markers listed.(defunct?)
This does not just apply to North America.
- UK has historical markers (https://www.waymarking.com/cat/details.aspx?f=1&guid=12764254-8d49-488b-bcbd-4b6d1a346eed&st=2)
- Portugal (https://www.waymarking.com/cat/details.aspx?f=1&guid=fb09b5b8-d3dd-4a00-abc2-8427e8e134ba&st=2)
- France (https://www.waymarking.com/cat/details.aspx?f=1&guid=bde5b6b1-f1d1-464e-92cf-0d3a2000ce96&st=2)
Tagging
As mentioned above, this proposal is similar to historic monuments and memorials but differs in that it does not memorialize people.
- historic=marker
- name=* What is the name of the marker? Who or what event is being recognized?
- authority=* The authority that made the designation (a city, county, state/province, country etc.)
- marker_date=* The date the authority establishes the marker
- ref=* A reference number, where appropriate
Applies to
A node, frequently located on a roadside, on a sidewalk or on a building.
Rendering
There are currently icons for historic memorials and monuments. This feature could be rendered in a similar fashion.