Odessa’s historical marker is relocated to the center of the town’s historic district.
The marker was originally installed nearly 100 years ago in 1932, in the middle of north and south bound Route 13.
The move was recently initiated by an appeal from the Historic Odessa Foundation to the town’s State Senator Stephanie Hansen. Associate Curator Brian Miller says the previous spot made sense at the time, but a lot has changed in the last century.
“It worked out really well for slower moving vehicles, right? But now
we’ve decided, you know, ‘could we please have it relocated to the center of town, right in the historic district?’ And, we have it now in front of the Cantwell’s Tavern right on Main Street.” he told DPM.
Miller says the spot is right off of the Appoquinimink River where visitors would have arrived in Odessa, which was called Cantwell’s Bridge at that time.
Hansen said she agreed with the want to move the marker and reached out to the Delaware Public Archives.
“The Division of Public Archives takes very seriously what historic markers say, and where they’re located. So when it comes to moving them, it’s a long process that they have to discuss internally and discuss whether or not it meets their standards for moving.” she said.
The Archives typically makes these moves when the marker is in disrepair or, in the case of Odessa, an obscure location.
State Archivist Maegan Peterman said the wait is usually due to “many different” parties being involved in a marker's relocation- Hansen said the process still came along much faster than she'd expected.
The Odessa marker describes the history of the town and its spot on the Appoquinimink River- its rededication ceremony was attended by a couple dozen locals and visitors, with musical accompaniment by student musicians from Odessa High School.
