If you have been paying attention, you know that I spent a good many hours this past winter photographing headstones in Florida. It was a feel-good activity that combined the need for some exercise with an ability to keep myself socially distant from living people. I have done some of the same this summer in Massachusetts, but also have found a new activity: finding and photographing historical markers.
I recently discovered a national database of historical markers: hmdb.org. I was thrilled to see that this site, like findagrave.com, had a list of “photo requests.” These consisted both of requests of photos for markers that had no photos at all (like the headstone requests in findagrave) and requests for additional photos (e.g., a request for a wide-angle photograph for a marker that had only a close-up photo).
Well, I was like a dog on a bone when I saw this. I immediately printed a list of photo requests for markers in the county in which I am residing this summer (Worcester County MA). The photo here is my very first photo of a marker that had none. My first contribution to the historical marker database!