There’s a Historical Marking Near Lansing And No One Knows Why It’s There

This historical marker in the Lansing suburb of Holt was important enough to place in 1940. Now 80-plus years later, the significance has been lost.

The Holt-Delhi Historical Society posted the image of the monument on Facebook and asked

WE NEED YOUR HELP! This Works Progress Administration (WPA) marker/monument from 1940 is no longer in its original location marking a WPA project. It is believed that it may have at one time marked a Holt or Delhi Township WPA project. Do you recognize the marker from a former location in Holt? Or know of a WPA project that occurred in Holt in 1940? Thank you to anyone who is able to help!

So what might it represent? The WPA or Works Progress Administration was a Depression-era program to bolster employment with public works project.

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Comments on Facebook led to a similar monument in a small town in Arkansas. The market there was nearly identical reading 'USA 1940 WPA.' In the case of the Arkansas project that the monument commemorates, no one is sure if it's a nearby park or public school.

Similar to the Lansing area, the marker is not associated with any known project in Holt.

The WPA was active in build projects around Michigan between 1935 and 1943. The Michigan Historical Center notes

The Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 authorized the establishment of a Works Progress Administration, an agency which was created by executive order on May 6, 1935. The office operated under this name until July 1, 1939, when it became known as the Work Projects Administration. Liquidation of the program was ordered on December 4, 1942, and the WPA ceased to exist on June 30, 1943.

A website called LivingNewDeal tracks WPA projects across the nation including 262 in Michigan.

After several years of wondering there appear to be no answers and the reason behind this lonely stone moment might have been truly lost to history.