Maryland's Historical Markers

Marker Maintenance and Repair

The State Roads Commission became part of the Department of Transportation in 1971, where its functions of constructing and maintaining state roads were taken over by the State Highway Administration. A vital partner in the marker program, SHA installs and maintains the markers, placing them on state-owned property, usually state road rights-of-way, according to safety, visibility and accessibility.  As markers are moved due to road construction and maintenance, SHA tries to install them where it is safe to pull off the road—for example, near a side road where travelers might turn and park.

SHA has taken a centralized and active role in refurbishing older markers and in funding the replacement of missing markers; since 1998, SHA has replaced over seventy markers. All replacement marker texts are reviewed by MHT for accuracy. Hundreds of markers have been repaired, repainted and sited for better viewing. SHA and MHT have jointly field surveyed the markers to locate, photograph, assess condition and to develop a database.

The early markers were made from cast iron; later markers are cast aluminum. In order to retain the old markers for as long as possible, breaks are repaired by welding, grinding and repainting. Markers that are beyond repair or obsolete are kept in the sign shop where parts may be reused in the repair of other damaged markers.

As the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) has evolved from the State Roads Commission, it has remained a vital partner in the marker program as it has continued the work of installing, maintaining and repairing the markers. Once the responsibility of the individual district offices, SHA in the last decade has taken a centralized and active role in refurbishing older markers and in funding the replacement of missing markers. During the period the marker program was inactive, an interested citizen took on the work of refurbishing markers.

In 1994 Cecil C. Boblitz, then a 66 year-old retired Bethlehem Steel Company worker from Dundalk, Maryland, and history buff volunteer at Fort McHenry, noticed that a historical marker on Mountain Road near Bel Air was hidden behind a hedge. After passing the marker several times he finally stopped and inspected it, learning about Maryland Confederate Major Harry Gilmor, who camped at a house on this site on his way to burn a Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge in 1864. Mr. Boblitz noted that it was a very unsafe place to pull over to read the marker. After a few phone calls to the Maryland State Highway Administration, the brush was cut back and trees were trimmed. Realizing the vegetation would grow back and that the safety issue was still not solved, Mr. Boblitz made a few more calls and convinced SHA to repaint and relocate the marker.

A few months later while on business in Upper Marlboro Mr. Boblitz noticed a historical marker about Dr. William Beanes and his connection with Francis Scott Key and the writing of the poem which became our National Anthem. Again the roadside marker was located on a busy byway with virtually no shoulder where motorists could stop and read the marker. Mr. Boblitz called SHA and eventually contacted Paul Stout, assistant chief of the Traffic Operations Division, who had helped him with the Bel Air marker and who had been transferred to Anne Arundel County. With limited funds SHA agreed to move the marker if Mr. Boblitz would finance the painting of the sign. He agreed, driving to Upper Marlboro several days to climb a ladder and carefully paint the marker to the State’s historical marker standards—background in silver, letters in black and the Maryland seal with several different colors. Mr. Boblitz did such a great job he was invited to paint a second damaged Beanes marker after it had been straightened and welded in the SHA sign shop where a sandblasting booth and marker work area had been established. Mr. Boblitz found painting the marker inside without need of a ladder was much easier and turned his basement into a temporary historical marker paint shop.

Mr. Boblitz began to notice markers around his neighborhood that needed painting. He contacted the Dundalk-Patapsco Neck Historical Society, which was responsible for placing the markers, and they welcomed his efforts. At Mr. Boblitz’s suggestion, SHA moved the Francis Scott Key Memorial marker from a hidden spot to a pull off area near the bridge toll plaza.

Paul Stout, familiar with Mr. Boblitz's dedicated and excellent work has encouraged and coordinated these efforts. Mr. Boblitz now uses the SHA sign shop near BWI as his paint shop. SHA brings in the signs needing work. Repairs are made if necessary and then Mr. Boblitz and other SHA employees repaint them and SHA reinstalls them—often in safer and easier to read locations.

Concurrent with these volunteer efforts to refurbish the markers, the Traffic Operations Division of SHA had recognized the need for replacement of missing markers, and of the degree of interest found throughout the state. A field survey conducted in 1988 by the district offices had located 618 standing markers of the 729 inventoried since the program's beginning. Paul Stout was instrumental in obtaining for the division an annual allotment for purchase and installation of missing markers. Since 1998 approximately seventy replacement and fifteen new markers have been ordered, and hundreds have been repaired, repainted and sited for better viewing.

This cooperative effort between Paul Stout of SHA and volunteer Cecil Boblitz benefits all motorists who stop to read and learn about Maryland history through the roadside marker program. For their efforts, the two were awarded a Maryland Preservation Service Award in 2002.