Historical Plaque Nominations

Lamp Post Plaque Guidelines –  Click Here to Download

Lamp Post Plaque Application – Click HERE to download or Click HERE to fill it out online.

LAMP POST PLAQUES PROGRAM
Jefferson, Iowa

Guidelines

The mission of the Lamp Post Plaques Program is to recognize historically significant people, places, and events in our community and to educate the public about them.
History and Introduction

Funding, donated by individuals and budgeted by the city, was secured for this project. It was decided the installation of historical plaques would be completed after the streetscape was finished. The Promotion and Design committees of Jefferson Matters: Main Street, working with the City of Jefferson, the Greene County Board of Supervisors, the Greene Co. Historical Society, and several interested individuals, were charged with completing this project in the fall of 2013. The city is responsible for the installation and maintenance of any plaques chosen and installed on city property. The county is responsible for the installation and maintenance of any plaques chosen and installed on county property surrounding and including the Nationally Historic Greene County Courthouse. The number of plaques approved each year is tied directly to the level of funding provided by the city of Jefferson, Greene County, and any further public donations received.

Subject of Historical Markers
• The Lamp Post Plaques Program committee encourages applications on subjects of historically significant people, places and events in Jefferson’s history. Historic structures are more adequately recognized by state or national historic preservation organizations, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation and are not intended to be marked through the Lamp Post Plaque Program.
• Unless there is sufficient documentary evidence to establish authenticity without question, no “firsts” will be marked.
• The Lamp Post Plaque Program is not intended to be used to erect monuments. Overly adulatory language that departs in any way from any objective and dispassionate recounting of the historically documented facts will not be approved.
• Plaques with people as the subject are considered only when the subject has been deceased for at least twenty-five years.
• Plaques recognizing events are considered only when the event in unique and took place at least twenty-five years prior to the date of the application. Buildings, sites, or other structures should be at least fifty years old in order to be considered for a plaque.
• Adequate vetting of the person or event will be done with historical documentation by a sub group of the Lamp Post Plaque committee.

Objectives

It is anticipated that these guidelines will help both private and public projects preserve and enhance the form, scale, and visual character that make Jefferson unique. These design guidelines have been created to achieve the following objectives:

1. To ensure that all plaques within the historic district are compatible with the special character of Jefferson and Greene County’s historic past.

2. To help convey the sense of excitement and vitality envisioned for the historic district.

3. Encourage plaques which, by their appropriate design, are integrated with and harmonious to the surroundings of the business district square.

4. Preserve and improve the appearance of the City as an historic community in which to live and work.

5. To promote plaque placement as pedestrian oriented rather than automotive, which is consistent with the historic character.

6. Ensure that the installation of a plaque does not damage the historic fabric, nor detract from the historic character of the Jefferson business district square or the Greene County Courthouse.