Missouri’s Civil War sites will be easier to find and will share a common graphic identity, thanks to a new program that gives municipalities, institutions and historic sites six new ways of showing their association to the Civil War.

The Missouri Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission is announcing the opening of its highway signage program. The program is designed to provide qualified sites throughout the state a common graphic that clearly denotes a site’s association with the Civil War.

The signage program will use a single graphic to identify Civil War sites in Missouri. The graphic, with its deep blue, vivid red star and unique lettering, was designed to be both distinctive and highly visible for motorists.

Communities, sites and institutions have a number of ways to purchase signs, including participating in signage programs designed for:

  • sites that want signage for the duration of the sesquicentennial and lack existing signage
  • sites that want to promote visitation and are located off of intersections that aren’t controlled by interchange ramps
  • sites that want to provide guidance to motorists and are located off intersections controlled by interchange ramps
  • communities or entities that want to link a series of sites in an auto tour
  • locations that have existing signage

Missouri had more Civil War battles than any state other than Virginia and Tennessee and they stretched from Athens in the northeast corner to Carthage in the southwest and from St. Joseph to the Bootheel swamps. Because the fighting took place over such a broad area, historically significant sites are often easy to miss.

For more information, visit http://mocivilwar150.com/blog/post/633.