That is the single main state route into Hanover. So that sign is highly visible actually.

I would be more appropriate on campus but the building that housed the computers no longer exists. The library where the terminals were is still there (its historic and gorgeous) but a plaque in the basement isn't really visible.

It's stated in the article.

> "...state historical markers are reserved for state highways, and all of the roads in and out of Dartmouth are city streets."

That doesn't answer the question. That just says historical markers are reserved for state highways. I'm asking 'why are they reserved for state highways, or any highway at all?' Why put a historical sign on a road of all places?

It's like they stuck the sign on an elephant, and I'm asking why, and your answer is 'because it's an elephant sign'. Yeah I get that... but why is it an elephant sign?

The best I can piece together, as a layperson reading state statutes, is because the NH Division of Historical Records[1] was assigned a duty and a budget to preserve and disseminate information on NH history [2]. The NH Historical Marker program is a joint effort with the NH Department of Transportation, and it is the responsibility of the DOT to erect and maintain the signs after approval from the Division of Historical Records [3]. The DOT has authority to erect these signs on class I-III roads which are state owned and maintained [4].

There appears to be a separate statute governing the installation of markers along class IV and V roads which are maintained by cities and towns [5].

[1]https://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/about.html

[2]http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XIX/227-C/227-C-4.h...

[3]https://law.justia.com/codes/new-hampshire/2015/title-xx/cha...

[4]http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XX/236/236-40.htm

[5]http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XX/236/236-44.htm

We do the same in Germany. It's so you get interesting buildings and other things pointed out when driving through an area you don't know well.

There are many interesting places between A and B. You know about A, because you're living there. You know about B, because it's your destination. Typically, you've never thought much about the in-between.

There are all sorts of historical markers on various things and in various places all over the US. (Though I'm not aware of any at Dartmouth College regarding the computer-related events that occurred there.) These particular markers are ones put up on NH state highways where they're fairly visible even to people not actively looking for them.

If I recall, there is a plaque in the lobby of Kemeny Hall at Dartmouth about Kemeny's role in creating Basic.

New Hampshire has these green historic signs all over the place - they are particularly thick in the seacoast region, for historic buildings or places where events of any kind of significance took place. For example, in downtown Exeter, there is one by the town hall commemorating a speech that Abraham Lincoln gave during his presidential campaign, also noting that his son went to Phillips Exeter, and across the street there is another marking that Exeter was once the capital of New Hampshire, and then a couple hundred yards away there is another marking where a tavern still stands that George Washington once ate dinner.

Later in life, Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln, built a large house called Hildene in southern Vermont that was occupied by descendants into the 1970's. It is maintained as a museum. It's pretty interesting and worth a trip, if you're into that sort of thing. Even my two teenagers found it interesting ;)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildene

There's also a plaque in Dartmouth Hall about the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on Artificial Intelligence, considered the founding event of AI research.

Most of these, in most states, are either beside roads or on buildings. I suppose it allows marking things that aren't buildings (or associated with one building). It also allows making far more visible, due to our car culture.

We don’t have a lot of people up here. My guess is to maximize visibility. I’d like to see some kind of monument or park at some point. (Pref with WiFi!)

Maybe a ruggedized computer running BASIC, with its main memory and peripheral state mirrored to the internet. I wonder whose land is next to it.

Hit me up if that sounds cool, because it sure sounds cool to me, and I don't think it would be that difficult to put together.

:- )

Because it's a state highway sign.

But why... why do they make their historical signs also highway signs? In the UK we put them on the relevant building, not out on the road.

They're not all highway signs, but if you put them on most buildings in NH, nobody would ever see them. I live in the biggest "city" (which has local, rather than state mandated historical plaques all over it, FWIIW), and it's only 100,000 people.

Blue plaques aren't all that visible from the road when driving, however. To be honest some are hard to spot even on foot from street level.

I guess with the US being a more car-based culture the highway signs made more sense?

Yes. Far more people see them by a road. Also, you can use them for things with no associated building. "In a field near here, Civil War Battle blah blah blah was fought", etc.