North Carolina
North Carolina history marker honoring Jim Thorpe back up
A state historic marker honoring 1912 Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe stands alongside a highway in Rocky Mount, N.C. on Friday, Might 27, 2022. A alternative marker was put in in mid-Might, greater than two years after an earlier marker was by chance torn down by a mowing service. The marker memorializes Thorpe enjoying baseball in Rocky Mount in 1909 (William F. West/Rocky Mount Telegram through AP)
AP
ROCKY MOUNT, N.C.
An historic marker alerting motorists that 1912 two-time Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe as soon as performed professional baseball in japanese North Carolina is again up greater than two years after it was by chance torn down.
The alternative freeway marker honoring Thorpe in downtown Rocky Mount was put in two weeks in the past, state Division of Transportation spokesperson Andrew Barksdale informed the Rocky Mount Telegram.
A Thorpe marker was first put in in 1960 that informed passersby that Thorpe got here to the town in 1909 to play for the Rocky Mount Railroaders.
Thorpe, a Sac and Fox/Potawatomi citizen, was stripped of his gold medals for the pentathlon and decathlon after shedding his newbie standing based mostly on enjoying baseball in North Carolina. His medals had been restored within the early Nineteen Eighties, about 30 years after his demise.
The marker was reported lacking in late 2019. It turned out the marker had been by chance struck by a contract mowing service, which agreed to pay for a alternative, the newspaper reported.
The alternative was ordered in Might 2021, however delays occurred because of foundry staffing shortages and backup marker requests, in accordance with Ansley Wegner, the state Freeway Historic Marker Program administrator.
“I’m glad to know that it’s again in place and doing its job,” Wegner mentioned.