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The process of applying for a marker begins when you fill out a state historic marker application, including composing the text. Please attach any documentation, research or record that you feel supports the site's historical relevancy. Please do not staple-use either paper clips or butterfly clips, and no two-sided copies. Once you have filled out the application, you may mail the original with five copies to:
Catherine Clark
State Historic Marker Coordinator
Bureau of Historic Preservation
R.A. Gray Building
500 S. Bronough Street, Room 422
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0250
Markers must be placed on a site that is accessible to the public, so that visitors may walk up to the marker and read the information. Sites that are accessible only by car or boat will not be approved.
Marker applications are periodically reviewed, via conference call, by an appointed State Historic Marker Council comprised of three preservation experts from around the state. When a marker review time is announced, all applications which are to be reviewed must be received, typewritten with all five copies made, by close of business two weeks (10 business days) before the date of the meeting. Any applications received after that time will not be considered until the next meeting.
A Florida Master Site File number must appear on the application (item #9) and the form must be included in the package of documentation. Also, a map indicating exactly where the marker would be located must be included. This needn’t be an elaborate map – a hand drawn map will suffice, as long as it clearly shows where the marker would be located.
If your marker is approved, and once the text that will appear on the marker is finalized, the marker may be ordered from the vendor who manufactures our markers. The cost of markers is $1,840 including shipping. If you wish to order a two-sided marker (different text on both sides) the price of the marker is $2,110. The manufacturing time for markers is at least three months.
You may wish to apply for a matching grant to defray the cost of the marker. However, your marker must be approved before you apply for a matching grant. Matching historic preservation grant applications are accepted once a year (Oct 1-Dec. 15) and are reviewed each spring by the Florida Historical Commission Grants Review Panel. A grant administrator in the Bureau of Historic Preservation's Grants Section can explain this process more thoroughly if you choose to pursue it. You may reach them by calling 800-847-7278.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss the marker application process, please do not hesitate to call Catherine Clark, State Historical Marker Coordinator, at (800) 847-7278 or (850) 245-6354.
MARKER APPLICATION
Download the Florida Historical Marker application (.pdf).