Apply for a Historical Marker

The historical marker process in Texas begins at the county level. After you have reviewed all the relevant information on this page, contact your county historical commission chair if you are interested in submitting an application.

The THC accepts applications for historical markers each fall for the following calendar year. Our usual application period is from September 1 through November 15. Please note that applying for a marker is highly competitive, all required components must be included when submitting an application. See Marker Toolkit for more information on how to apply. The entire process of application submission to marker dedication is very long, most applications take 12-18 months.

In May, the Texas Historical Commission received the unexpected news that the owners of Southwell Company, the business that has produced our historical markers for more than fifty years, sold their firm. The Texas Historical Commission is searching for a vendor that can accept the volume of markers ordered annually, develop a quality product, and create and deliver markers in a reasonable amount of time. The agency must follow state guidelines and processes in selecting a new vendor. As of August 9, 2019, a Request for Proposals (RFP) is currently under review with the State Comptroller. Once it is out of review, the next step will be posting the RFP and then accepting bids from potential vendors.

We will post the new Application Period Dates as well as new applications for 2020 markers on this webpage as soon as we know what the production cost and schedule will be. Please continue to check this webpage for updates on our progress.

In the meantime, applicants can gather the additional documents that are required with the marker application (please see table below). Once collected, these documents may be submitted to your local County Historical Commission for a pre-review of the application materials.

The following applications will be available in Word doc and pdf format. Note that Attachment A for Owner's Permission is now available.

Subject Marker Application (Word doc) (PDF) See last year's application as a sample.
- 2020 Subject Marker Attachment A (Owner's Permission in Word Doc)
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark (RTHL) Application (Word doc) (PDF) Sample 2019 RTHL App,
- 2020 RTHL Marker Attachment A (Owner's Permission in Word Doc)
Historic Texas Cemetery (HTC) Marker Application (Word doc) (PDF) Sample 2019 HTC App,
- 2020 HTC Marker Attachment A (Owner's Permission in Word Doc)

Please note that all marker applications must be approved and submitted by your county historical commission chair or marker chair to markers@thc.texas.gov.

HTC Name & Date Plaque Applications (accepted year round)

An Historic Texas Cemetery designation is a pre-requisite for a cemetery marker. If your cemetery has been designated as historic through our Cemetery Preservation program and you wish to purchase a non-interpretive historical plaque, then you can submit the form below.

Note: For an interpretive historical marker for the cemetery, please submit an HTC Application during the regular Fall application period (see section above to download HTC Marker Application when available).

HTC Name & Date Plaque

(Applications will be uploaded as soon as possible, please check this webpage for further updates.)

HTC Medallion with Name & Date Plaque Application (Word doc)

HTC Medallion with Name & Date Plaque Application (PDF)

SAMPLE HTC Medallion with Name & Date Plaque Application (Word doc)

Marker program staff are offering several online webinars explaining the marker research and application process through the summer and fall of 2018. Look here for a list of dates and times for these training opportunities.