He's personally hunted down 2,253 and plans to continue scouring the state in search of the rest. That means visiting each of Georgia's 159 counties, as well as tackling back-country roads better suited for loggers than tourists. Once Mr. Seibert finds a marker, he carefully notes its location and files the information in a list he keeps on his laptop. Mr. Seibert is not alone in his quest to find the cast-aluminum slices of history. Mr. Boyd said he's planning to publish updates next year and hopes soon to publish his third marker book, listing the markers in metro Atlanta.
Nobody knows exactly how many historical markers dot Georgia's landscape.
State officials put up and maintain about 2,000 markers, including a series marking Civil War sites that follow the path of Union Gen. William T. Sherman's army from the mountains to the sea. Other organizations as varied as the Garden Clubs of Georgia and the federal Works Progress Administration also put up markers. The state Department of Natural Resources last year decided to stop installing new markers, but the Georgia Historical Society plans to start erecting new black, white and silver markers next year. Mr. Seibert said he wants to see them all. He has grown so dedicated to marker hunting that when he was awaiting a double lung transplant, he would hit the road with an oxygen tank by his side.