The stories that aren’t on those historical markers

Whether reading a newspaper or a sign placed in front of a building, readers rarely concern themselves with the information that didn’t make it in or on the final project. Christine Brown, an interpretive historian for the Montana Historical Society, does just the opposite.

On Aug. 13, Brown visited the Jefferson County Museum to present stories “not fit to print” on the 1,800 plus National Register of Historic Places signs throughout the state. 

As an interpretive historian, Brown researches the history of a location and writes a sign – at the property owner’s request – describing its historical nature. “Property owners want tasteful stories, not sad and gory stories,” Brown said during her presentation. For this reason, Brown finds herself leaving much of the “juicy gossip” out of the approximately 200 words printed on the sign; some of which took place only a short drive from Jefferson County.