Criteria ...

he state marker program cannot mark all historic places in North Carolina. To do so would be impractical and beyond the scope of the program. Aside from the cost involved, an unchecked proliferation of historical markers would create an obstruction to traffic flow and lessen the distinction of those signs designating deserving sites.
Subjects of primarily local or regional, as opposed to statewide, significance are not eligible for state markers. An individual cannot be considered until twenty-five years, or roughly a generation, after his or her death. Structures are not marked for architectural value. Rather, an individual or historic event associated with a site is more likely to receive consideration. Architecturally significant buildings may be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, administered by the State Historic Preservation Office of the Office of Archives and History .
Over the years the Marker Advisory Committee has devised the following set of criteria, under which the program presently operates:

1. All markers are authorized by the North Carolina Highway Historical Marker Advisory Committee, and no state highway historical marker may be erected under the program without the approval of the committee.

2. All markers designate places or persons of statewide significance. No markers will be approved for subjects of purely local or regional importance.

3. All marker inscriptions are drafted or approved by the advisory committee. In drafting the inscriptions, the committee does not editorialize or pass judgment; only straightforward, undisputed historical facts are set forth. Words such as "great," "outstanding," "important," will not be included in marker inscriptions. The space limitations of the standard marker require that concise statements be used. The heading or title consists of one or two lines of approximately sixteen letters or spaces to the line; the text of the inscription is usually not more than five or six lines of approximately twenty-three letters and spaces each. The advisory committee will decide on the title and length of the inscription.

4. No individual can be marked prior to a waiting period of twenty-five years after death. Members of the United States Congress are not marked automatically even after the waiting period. Many have been marked; however, in addition to serving in Congress, they must have served with distinction elsewhere.

5. Churches usually are not marked in the Coastal Plains unless the congregation was established prior to the American Revolution (1776). The congregations of churches in the Piedmont must have been formed before 1800 and in the mountain region before 1820. The age of a church body alone does not mean that the committee will approve a marker. Other evidence of its significance must be presented, such as notable ministers, important events, and the age and architectural importance of the church building. The same criteria are applicable to brush arbors and religious campgrounds. Similar criteria are applied to schools and academies.

6. As a general rule, markers for cemeteries are not approved by the committee. The rare exceptions are those in which a number of persons of unusual significance are buried, such as the Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, where seven former governors are interred.

7. The committee usually does not mark the sites of former county seats or abandoned (but extant) courthouses. Unless there is added importance, the fact that a building once served as a county courthouse is of local and not statewide significance. This rule applies also to former jail sites, jails, post offices, and similar structures.

8. Stagecoach roads, king's highways, stagecoach stops, plank roads, old brick roads, baggage roads, Indian trails, and most bridges and ferries usually will not be approved for marking. The earliest and most important ones have been marked previously.

9. Every spot visited by George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, Nathanael Greene, Lord Cornwallis, William T. Sherman, George Stoneman, Francis Asbury, or Griffith Rutherford is not marked automatically.

10. The committee will not single out individuals to mark when many persons have shared equally in an event of historical importance.

11. As a general rule, when the birthplace or gravesite of an individual has been marked, that individual will not be marked with a second marker. Usually, when a person is cited on a marker (as Shubael Stearns on Sandy Creek Baptist Church marker, K-5), no marker will be erected to him individually. The committee reserves the right to decide whether or not a second marker is merited.

12. No structure, whether a house or public building, will be marked merely to preserve it. Sites where buildings once stood prior to their removal to another location will not be marked, as a general rule.

13. The state marker program does not mark towns or their dates of incorporation. The naming of a town on any marker plaque is coincidental and is not to be construed as the reason for marker approval.

14. Marker requests will be rejected when it is impossible to authenticate or verify the alleged information to the satisfaction of the committee. If there is conflicting evidence, the committee will make the decision. Unless there is sufficient documentary evidence to establish authenticity without question, no "firsts" will be marked. The committee will decide what evidence is acceptable and sufficient.

15. Most colleges and universities of historical significance have been or will be marked.

16. No marker will be approved for individual sites within a historical complex which has its own marker system.