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photos of old signs on the internet

Started by agentsteel53, January 28, 2009, 03:08:15 PM

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hbelkins



This dates back to the construction of the south portion of New Circle Road (KY 4) in Lexington, in the early to mid 1970s. One of the oldest signs I've seen still standing on state roads in Kentucky. Photo taken 6/17/16.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


CanesFan27

i think this would qualify as old - based on that this dates to most likely before Interstate 440 was added to the Beltline in the early 90s.

I apologize for the blulr - no real good place to take this shot.

IMG_9805 by Adam Prince, on Flickr

noelbotevera

Quote from: CanesFan27 on July 07, 2016, 08:15:22 PM
i think this would qualify as old - based on that this dates to most likely before Interstate 440 was added to the Beltline in the early 90s.

I apologize for the blulr - no real good place to take this shot.

IMG_9805 by Adam Prince, on Flickr
So what was the number prior to the 90s? Was it US 1?

Mapmikey

#678
This scan shows what is was shortly before I-440.  Technically the Beltline was briefly I-40 Bus (see pg 3 at http://route.transportation.org/Documents/1991-USRN_Cmte.pdf) right before I-440 but this was not signed...


amroad17

#679
Maybe Raleigh should have done on I-440, and now I-40 around the south side of the city, what Indianapolis has done with I-465 in regards with the US and state routes.  They already moved all the routes to the beltway.  Should have kept them on the beltway instead of moving them back.  Most Raleigh residents use the street name instead of the route number anyway.
I don't need a GPS.  I AM the GPS! (for family and friends)

msubulldog

Quote from: Mapmikey on July 07, 2016, 10:07:27 PM
This scan shows what is was shortly before I-440.  Technically the Beltline was briefly I-40 Bus (see pg 3 at http://route.transportation.org/Documents/1991-USRN_Cmte.pdf) right before I-440 but this was not signed...


Back in the '70s, pre 440, I remember the northern part of the Beltway being signed as US 1, 64, and 70--along with NC 50.
"But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it."
Matt 7:14, NLT

hbelkins

#681
A trip to southwestern Virginia yielded all kinds of goodies.

Still standing in Wytheville



Hanging on in Galax



And all sorts of goodies in Tazewell and Bluefield..


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

KEVIN_224

How about these beauties in Vermont?



They're at the eastern end of Sykes Mountain Avenue in White River Junction. Behind me was the village with the train station. The other end of Sykes gives you the Greyhound terminal and an intersection with US Route 5.

Avalanchez71


KEVIN_224

I have no clue. I went up to them. They had no DOT-type install stickers on them or anything.

fdpierson

#685
Here's a picture of what is now exit 47 on I-64 westbound, serving what is now WV-622, sometime in the 70s. WV-622 intersects WV-62, which was formerly US-35, thus the 35/2 fractional secondary route designation.

It appears they used sequential exit numbering on I-64 back then, something I didn't know. And of course, that's quite a nice car.


PHLBOS

Quote from: fdpierson on August 12, 2016, 12:52:55 PMAnd of course, that's quite a nice car.


That appears to be a '78 Chrysler Newport sedan.  Normally Chrysler-badged cars didn't offer police-packaged variants but given that Dodge & Plymouth pulled the plug on its full-size Royal Monaco & Gran Fury (the latter would be revived in R-body form for 1980) that model year; this was the only traditional (read big) full-size Mopar around for a police package.  However, most agencies that used full-sized Dodges & Plymouths in the past just went to the mid-size Monacos & Furys (which were then larger than GM's then-newly downsized B-bodies) or Fords & Mercurys (which were still big for '78) if they wanted a traditional full-size.
GPS does NOT equal GOD

hbelkins

Had hoped to get my own photograph of the triangle "68 TENN" sign in Madisonville today, but it's been removed. A streetscape project has claimed it.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

NE2

pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

CanesFan27

A few weeks ago I was in Kalamazoo, Michigan for work.  WHile roadgeeking with Brian Rawson-Ketchem and Sam Scholtens, we came across these gems off of M-40 south of Lawton.

20170816_190302 by Adam Prince, on Flickr

now take a closer look at the Dead End Sign...and you'll see it traveled a bit to get to this road along Cedar Lake.

20170816_190308 by Adam Prince, on Flickr

froggie


HTM Duke

I found this picture from what I think is the Springfield interchange's earliest configuration while browsing, and I don't believe I've ever seen a VDOT installed sign with an I-70S shield before:

List of routes: Traveled | Clinched

US71



Reverse Curve sign somewhere in Arkansas circa 1928
From Ninth Biennial Report Arkansas State Highway Commission
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Mapmikey

Quote from: HTM Duke on April 16, 2018, 08:10:16 PM
I found this picture from what I think is the Springfield interchange's earliest configuration while browsing, and I don't believe I've ever seen a VDOT installed sign with an I-70S shield before:



Here is what that looked like a few years prior:



A whole bunch of 1960s beltway region photos are available at http://vahighways.com/495vintage/index.htm

jakeroot

^^
"Sign salads" like that are not common in WA. Was (or is) it common in other states for freeway diverges to be signed with shields in the gore (or even off to the side), like those used on surface roads? Obviously, big green signs are more common these days, but I wonder if A) sign salads were the norm on freeways, and B) whether or not this is still common anywhere.

mrsman

Quote from: jakeroot on April 18, 2018, 05:21:38 PM
^^
"Sign salads" like that are not common in WA. Was (or is) it common in other states for freeway diverges to be signed with shields in the gore (or even off to the side), like those used on surface roads? Obviously, big green signs are more common these days, but I wonder if A) sign salads were the norm on freeways, and B) whether or not this is still common anywhere.

If you follow the link to the vahighways.com webiste above, you will be taken to congressional testimony in 1969 about this very issue.  Basically, in the beginning of the interstate era most states were signing freeway entrances and junctions in a similar fashion to other junctions with ground mounted small signs and the occasional sine salad.  California was typically using the BGS.  Well, the congressional testimony determined that it was a safety issue to have such small signs on high speed freeways so they imposed rules to have bigger signs on the freeways and to allow for the federal funding to accomplish it.

The pictures in the report are mostly from CA, NY, and the DC area.

It's a great read if you have the time.

D-Dey65

Quote from: Mapmikey on April 18, 2018, 06:52:22 AM
A whole bunch of 1960s beltway region photos are available at http://vahighways.com/495vintage/index.htm

So, on this one, was the banner that said "NO TRUCKS" red?
http://www.vahighways.com/495vintage/IL-exit15.jpg
Because it looks like a different shade of gray in that part.


Hey, there's a Hess truck here:  :biggrin:
http://www.vahighways.com/495vintage/US50ebatMD3_2.jpg

Mapmikey

Quote from: D-Dey65 on May 05, 2018, 09:01:49 AM

So, on this one, was the banner that said "NO TRUCKS" red?
http://www.vahighways.com/495vintage/IL-exit15.jpg
Because it looks like a different shade of gray in that part.



I have no idea.  Perhaps one of the 3 posters in this forum whose DC-area presence goes back much further than mine might know...?

Nanis

#698
https://flic.kr/p/ErLksJ

Where Route 1 hits PA 132
Map of state roads I have taken pictures for the signs for can be seen here (although four routes ave not been added yet because of their lengths.):
https://www.scribblemaps.com/maps/view/us_route_map/s7vYO7rC80

ErmineNotyours

This photo was south of the South Park Bridge in Seattle Washington.  It connects two different neighborhoods in Seattle, but for the longest time the bridge was in unincorporated King County.  It almost seems the city drew the boundary around the bridge just so it wouldn't have to pay for its operation and upkeep, but that also means it bypassed the corporate offices of Boeing.  For years I would regularly read letters to the editor in the paper about how Seattle's budget problems would be solved if only they incorporated Boeing.  Instead, Tukwilla, a smaller city to the south, swooped in and incorporated Boeing, but they ran the city limit down the middle of the river, apparently sticking King County with the bridge, and leaving a small, low rent, fireworks free-for-all island neighborhood of unincorporated county.  Soon after that, Boeing left for Chicago.  Then a few years after that, the bridge became too old to repair, so it was simply removed, leaving no bridge at all for several years until the county could find the money for a new one.  This photo is from before the bridge was closed, but shows how a sign in the city for a county bridge could be taken for granted and forgotten.

Overgrown drawbridge sign by Arthur Allen, on Flickr



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