Tourism was not a cause of the American Civil War, but it certainly has been an effect.

And now, to help promote Pennsylvania's pivotal role in that conflict, which pitted American against American, the state Department of Transportation has placed 73 new signs in six counties promoting each area's Civil War heritage.

Bearing a blue Union kepi, or hat, on an orange keystone and bearing the words "Pennsylvania" and "Civil War Trails," the signs are intended to help tourists locate historically significant sites.

"The signs will help to augment what's already out there with regards to maps and historical markers," said Greg Penny, PennDOT community relations coordinator. "They help to assure people who are trying to find historic sites that they are on the right road."

The signs were erected the last week of June. Seven were erected in Lancaster County, 11 in Adams County, 18 in Cumberland County, four in Dauphin County, 20 in Franklin County and 13 in York County.

"I was hoping they'd be up well in advance of the 145th anniversary activities in Gettysburg over the past weekend, but they weren't installed in time," Penny said.

In Lancaster County, most of the signs are along routes 441 and 462 around the river towns of Marietta and Columbia.

Columbia played an especially important role during the war when the long covered bridge that spanned the Susquehanna River and connected Lancaster and York counties was burned by retreating Union militia to prevent invading Confederate troops from crossing. The event, on June 28, 1863, was part of the prelude to the Battle of Gettysburg, which erupted three days later.

One of the Lancaster County signs is on Route 462 west of Mountville and another on Route 23 west of Silver Spring.

The signs resemble standard PennDOT roadway signs and are near major intersections.

Except for two signs in Adams County along Route 15, which measure 30 by 40 inches, the signs measure 24 by 36 inches.

The cost of the project was $25,856, which includes 56 more signs, which will display other information and are scheduled to be installed next year at other points of historic interest.

The project — part of the Pennsylvania Civil War Trails initiative sponsored by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the state's Department of Community and Economic Development and the state's VisitPA tourism program — is designed to help identify, map, and promote the Gettysburg campaign.

The signs augment a book by author Tom Huntington titled "Pennsylvania's Civil War Trails: The Guide to Battle Sites, Monuments, Museums, and Towns."

Published in 2007, the book covers war-related events in the Harrisburg and Carlisle areas, Chambersburg and Franklin County, the river towns of the Lancaster and York counties, Carlisle and Cumberland County, Harrisburg and Dauphin County, York, Hanover, Gettysburg and Adams County.

For more information on the Civil War Trails, visit www.visitpa.com/visitpa/civilWarTrails.pa.

E-mail: lalexander@lnpnews.com