Historic Highway Markers
in
Monroe County, NY

by
Dick Halsey

This set of web pages is an attempt to locate all the Historic Highway Markers in Monroe County that have been placed by New York, Monroe County and local Towns. The New York State Historic Marker Program started in 1926 as a way to commemorate historic sites during the Sesquicentennial of the American Revolution. It was a temporary program and state funding ended around 1939. Apparently markers could be acquired from the State Education Department for as little as $2. Most of the historic markers seen along highways today were erected in the period between 1926 and 1939. Coordination and assistance by the Office of State History of the Education Department continued into the 1960s. For more details on the NY State program see the State Historic Markers page at the NY State Museum.

Monroe County also has had a program to place Historical Markers at some of the historic sites in the County. Their program still is in existance and some of the markers on these pages are fairly new. There are also historic markers placed by local governments. The Towns of Pittsford and Perinton have placed many markers in their towns.

In 1965 a small booklet was published by the County of Monroe with the text of all known markers in the County. This was used as a basis in locating the markers. The booklet also noted that some markers were missing at that time. Some of the markers missing in 1965 were found in the search in 2001; while some of those existing in 1965 are now gone. Some of the missing markers are gone because they refer to houses which have since been destroyed. It is very possible that some of the markers not found do in fact exist. If you know of a location of a listed marker not shown o a marker not listed please send an e-mail to Dick Halsey.

According to the NY State Museum, markers placed by NY State should have a blue background with gold or yellow text and border. It is said that Monroe County markers should have a green background with gold colored letters and border. You will see very few have the correct colors. There never has been any money allocated for maintenance of the markers. Repainting is either done by the Towns or groups such as the Scouts. The marker for the Bloss Seminary is possibly the ugliest marker found as it is painted completely in flat green.

The form used on these pages is that the text of the marker is on the left and a picture of the marker is also included if found. Occasionally, a picture of a building that is referred to by the markers is shown on the right. The background color of the address bar is significant. If the background color is blue then the marker was placed by NY State. If a green background then it was placed by Monroe County. If a yellow background, the marker was placed by either the Town or a private organization.

Hopefully you can learn a little history of Monroe County from these historic markers. Enjoy!