About the Program
The Town of Mount Pleasant, through its Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee, is pleased to sponsor a grant program to erect Historical Roadside Markers in the Town of Mount Pleasant. The program is funded by the Accommodations Tax and administered by the Town of Mount Pleasant Historical Commission.
The Town of Mount Pleasant Historical Markers mark and interpret places important to understanding Mount Pleasant’s past, either as the sites of significant events, or at historic properties such as buildings, sites, structures, or other resources significant for their design, as examples of a type, or for their association with institutions or individuals significant in local, state, or national history. Historic properties individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places are ordinarily eligible for historical markers, as their status guarantees that a case has already been made for their significance. Many other places, however, either not eligible for listing in the National Register or not yet nominated through that program, are also eligible for historical markers. National or statewide significance is not a prerequisite, and many properties of primarily local significance have already been marked.
The Historical Marker program depends on the citizens of Mount Pleasant to suggest, document, and sponsor its historical markers. Markers may be sponsored by individuals, historical, patriotic, civic, or other organizations, the Historical Commission, or by institutions such as church congregations or schools and colleges. The Town of Mount Pleasant purchases and maintains the markers.
Program Guidelines
- Town of Mount Pleasant Historical Markers are intended to mark historic places and significant events and are not primarily memorials to individuals or institutions associated with those places.
- Historic properties less than twenty-five years old, associated with events that occurred less than twenty-five years ago, or significant for their association with significant persons who died less than twenty-five years ago will not ordinarily be eligible for historical markers. Any exceptions will only be made on a case-by-case basis after review by the Historical Commission and may include final review by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.
- The sites of significant buildings no longer standing may be eligible for historical markers under the same criteria as other historic properties.
- Historic properties or sites closely associated with significant persons may be marked primarily for that association only if:
a. the property is the property or site in the state which best represents the individual's community of birth or residence, productive career, association with a particular institution, or association with a significant event, AND
b. no other site in South Carolina closely associated with the individual and marked primarily for that association has already been marked.
- Sites of significant events should be marked, when possible, on the nearest public street, county road, or state highway.
- Cemeteries may be eligible for a single marker based on their significance to a particular community, significant persons buried there, their association with significant events, or their significance in gravestone art, but individual gravestones, gravesites, or plots within cemeteries will not be eligible for historical markers.
- Individual components of a historic property already marked as an entity will not be eligible for historical markers.
Marker Text
- Applicants will submit a draft text for the proposed marker, which will be reviewed and revised as necessary by the Historical Commission. Approved texts may be edited for content, style, and space. The Historical Commission will send a copy of the draft text back to the Primary Contact Person for their review and approval, and revision. The final marker text will be approved by the Historical Commission or its designee, and copies will be sent to the Primary Contact Person. The approval process generally takes from three to six months.
- Draft marker texts must be accompanied by documentation of the history and significance of the property being proposed for a historical marker. Footnotes or endnotes are not required, but copies of relevant portions of major primary and secondary sources used (including family papers; county and state government records; church, school, or cemetery records; newspaper, magazine, or journal articles; and county, city, or town histories, church histories, biographical sketches, or other pertinent sources) should be included.
Marker Specifications
- Town of Mount Pleasant Historical Markers are made of cast aluminum.
- Markers measure 42" x 32", with one title line (2" letters, 25 characters per line) and 11 lines of text (1.5" letters, 36 characters per line). These markers are available with a standard 7' post.
- In certain instances, such as residential or commercial areas, a smaller marker may be required. The use of smaller markers will be determined by the Historical Commission.
Location of Markers
Markers are usually placed in the right-of-way of state highways or public roads. The precise location of the marker must be approved by the South Carolina Department of Transportation in the case of markers erected on state highways. The appropriate local official of a particular county, city, or town must approve the location of markers erected on county or other public roads. When markers are erected on private property the property owner must approve their location. The Town of Mount Pleasant will obtain necessary encroachment permits from the South Carolina Department of Transportation. Applicants will be responsible for obtaining permission to erect markers on private property. Applicants will also need to supply an accurate, scaled map showing the proposed location of the marker.
