Blue Star Memorial Highway
Greensville County, Greensville County, Virginia
Marker Inscription
Blue Star Memorial Highway A tribute to the Armed Forces that have defended the United States of America Sponsored by Virginia Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. in cooperation with Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Transportation
Erected by National Garden Clubs, Inc.
The Story
Blue Star Memorial Highways trace to 1945, when New Jersey garden clubs began planting living tributes of dogwoods along a highway to honor World War II service members. The name echoes the blue-star service flags that families hung in their windows for a loved one in uniform. The program spread nationwide through the garden-club federations, and this Virginia marker, placed with the state highway department, carries that remembrance to travelers along the road.
Why it matters
It turns an ordinary stretch of highway into a coast-to-coast civic tradition of thanking those who served, keeping public gratitude for the armed forces literally woven into the American landscape.
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Nearby & related markers
Blue Star Memorial A tribute to the Armed Forces
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Blue Star Memorials began in 1945 as a garden-club tribute to armed-forces members, named for the blue-star service flags families hung for loved ones at war. This Northampton County, North Carolina marker was placed by the Garden Clubs of District XII with the Garden Club of North Carolina. It links a rural corner of the state to a national tradition of remembrance.
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