Highway marker honoring Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe is missing, NC officials say
A historical highway marker is missing from its location in North Carolina, and officials say they need help finding it.
The marker honors Jim Thorpe, a Native American Olympic gold medalist and professional baseball player. It went missing recently from the corner of Church Street and Falls Road where it stood in Rocky Mount, according to a release from the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural resources.
The marker was reportedly there last week, the release says, and “there does not appear to have been an accident.”
Thorpe was born on a reservation in Oklahoma but made his professional baseball debut with a North Carolina team, the Rocky Mount Railroaders, according to the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
He won gold medals at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm in the pentathlon and the decathlon, the department says.
The marker honoring him in Rocky Mount reads “Indian athlete, star of the 1912 Olympics, made his professional baseball debut with Rocky Mount Railroaders, 1909. Ball park was 300 yds. W.”
Now officials are asking the public to help find the missing marker, and anyone with information is asked to call the N.C. Highway Historical Marker office at 919-814-6620, the release says.
This is hardly the first time a historical marker has gone missing in the state.
Ansley Wegner, administrator of the state Highway Historical Marker Program, told The News & Observer in 2017 that there are about 1,600 historical markers in North Carolina and that one goes missing every few weeks.
The Locke Craig, Fort Caswell, Hart’s Mill, Camp Lejeune, Stoneman’s Raid and Torhunta highway makers have all gone missing this year, according to the department.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Highway marker honoring Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe is missing, NC officials say."
