CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia’s Highway Historical Marker Program got its start more than 80 years ago and now a new light is being shined on it.
Gov. Jim Justice and state officials unveiled a new book about the program, entitled Signs of the Times: West Virginia’s Highway Historical Marker Program, at a brief ceremony Friday.
The program was started in 1934, with the first marker being installed in 1937 at the old state capitol on Capitol Street in Charleston, officials said.
A first book on the program was published in 2002, but it needed to be updated.
“It’s a wonderful book. Y’all get this. You’ll learn lots and lots of wonderful stuff about West Virginia,” Gov. Justice said.
The governor inscribed a copy, which will be put in the state archives.
Justice was also presented a copy signed by West Virginia Department of Transportation Secretary Byrd White and Randall Reid Smith, the Commissioner of the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History.
The pair then gave the governor a mock-up of a marker commemorating his Roads to Prosperity initiative.
The book is available, for $12.95, at the state Culture Center in Charleston; Tamarack, near Beckley; Independence Hall in Wheeling and the Grave Creek Mound, in Moundsville. Copies are also available through the mail for $17, including shipping, by calling 304-588-0230 or through an online order form.
