[MassHistPres] Tercentenery marker rehab

[Susan Morreale]

Hi Amy,

Gloucester successfully completed restoration of all four of our 
Tercentenary markers this spring following the example of the town of 
Arlington by using Skylight Studios in Woburn. I can't emphasize enough 
how professional Skylight was to work with, and their results were 
outstanding. I have attached both Arlington's treatment report and one 
of Gloucester's so you can see the process and care that goes into their 
service.

The cost was approximately $3,500; each took about 1-2 months to 
complete; the service did not include transportation. Our DPW department 
dislodged the tablets from their posts, transported them to Woburn and 
back, and re-installed the tablets (which weight up to 200 pounds.)

We also obtained a quote from Daedalus in Watertown, MA, who did several 
markers in western MA with state funding in 2019. Their quote was 
$20,000 for one marker, which included post restoration.

Before and after photos can be found on our website at: 
https://gloucester-ma.gov/1513/Tercentenary-Markers

Resources below:
Roadside Marker Inventory - Massachusetts Bay Colony
https://www.communitypreservation.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif4646/f/uploads/basic_mbc-tc-_presentation-general_distribution_february_2023_edit.pdf 


Database: Massachusetts Markers (163 listed of the original 275)
https://www.hmdb.org/results.asp?Search=Series&SeriesID=100

Historical Markers Erected by the Massachusetts Bay Colony Tercentenary 
Commission
Booklet published 1930, lists all 275 markers located in Massachusetts
https://archive.org/details/historicalmarker00mass

The Tercentenary Markers - Restoring 300 Years of Massachusetts State 
History with CPA
https://www.communitypreservation.org/cpa-success-stories/news/tercentenary-markers-restoring-300-years-massachusetts-state-history-cpa 


Let me know if you have questions and best of luck!
Regards,
- Susan

*Susan Morreale, Chair*
Gloucester Historical Commission 
<https://gloucester-ma.gov/109/Historical-Commission>
Gloucester, MA
617.852.2373




On 1/8/2026 2:09 PM, Amy Smith via MassHistPres wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> We have a marker that should be updated for historical inaccuracy and 
> harmful perspective. I would be curious to hear from Historical 
> Commissions in other communities if they updated theirs with any 
> success. There is some concern on the part of some commissioners here 
> in my town about doing this, but I think there is a way to create a 
> marker with reparative language, *and* maintain the old signange as 
> part of the history of the marker.
>
> Thanks!
> Amy
>
> Amy E. Smith
> Chair, Georgetown Historical Commission
>
> _______________________________________________
> MassHistPres mailing list
> MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu
> https://mailman.cs.umb.edu/listinfo/masshistpres

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