Collin County has a rich history which the Collin County Historical Commission (CCHC) works to document through its
state and county marker programs. With over 200 state markers and over 50 county markers, as well as local markers in some cities, nearly every community has markers that tell the stories of Texas history.
State Markers
To learn more about local history, start by going to the
Texas Historical Commissions (THC) Atlas webpage
https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us and select "County" and scroll to "Collin" to get a list of courthouses, all national register properties, state antiquities landmarks (architectural only), state historical markers, cemeteries, and museums in the county. You can check just one item or several. Submit the request. Then you can select the highlighted items in the search results for more detailed information: map, directions, and marker inscription.
The CCHC submits
ALL state historical marker applications to the THC. Deadlines on the THC website are for the county historical commission, not for what the public submits to the local county historical commission. The CCHC accepts Historical Narratives, the most important part of the application, throughout the year. The review process can take several months because the THC requires that the local CHC verify the facts. Narratives must be submitted to the CCHC by
October 1st to be included in the next year's submissions to the THC. Details are in the section highlighted below.
The
2024 Texas Historical Marker Application will be available to download in
January 2024 on the TCH's "Apply for a Historical Marker" webpage at https://thc.texas.gov/preserve/preservation-programs/historical-markers/apply-historical-marker. By this time (January), the review of Narratives by the CCHC will be completed. A Sample of an application is on the THC's website prior to posting the application for the current year.
To contact the CCHC's State Marker committee chair, please email: cchcmail@yahoo.com with the subject line "State Marker Inquiry."
County Markers
You may apply for a Collin County Historical Marker at any time during the year. The CCHC has just published an updated edition of the Collin Historical Marker Book: County Markers 2019. It will be available online soon. In it you will find pictures, descriptions, and even GPS coordinates for all the various county historical markers.
Marker Maintenance
For more information about maintaining a historical marker, refer to the Texas Historical Commission for instructions:
Marker Documents and Applications
