"An Epic State-by-State Look at Municipality Border Signs"

[1995hoo]

This article appeared on the Uni Watch Twitter feed. For those unfamiliar, Uni Watch is a website that normally focuses on sports team uniforms and changes thereto as well as errors and idiosyncrasies.

The fellow who was the site's lead writer recently stopped writing for it and moved on to other things. His comments here make it sound like he belongs on this forum:

Hello! Paul here. Been a while, right? Just wanted to let you know that I have a new Inconspicuous Consumption piece today that I think will really appeal to Uni Watch readers. It's about the signs that greet drivers as they cross the border into a town or city.

Each of the 50 states has its own way of handling this. Some list just the municipality's name; others include the population and/or elevation; some include the town's founding date; and some use interesting state-specific phrasing.

I've compiled a huge state-by-state compendium on how all 50 states handle these types of signs, complete with commentary, background info, links to highway sign style guides, and more. It's like Uni Watch for highways! I learned a lot while putting this piece together, and I really think Uni Watch readers will get a kick out of it.

The actual compendium—which uses the name "Highway Gothic" quite early on—appears here. Unfortunately, it's paywalled. You can get as far as Connecticut before it blacks out the rest: https://www.inconspicuous.info/p/an-epic-state-by-state-look-at-municipality

[formulanone]

@Alps gets a mention!

Edit: apparently they used my Cheyenne, Wyoming sign.

[pderocco]

Since I'm not a "subscriber" I can't see past Connecticut, but they all look like MUTCD white on green. I know there are other threads about this, but I'll point out that Massachusetts has signs like this on its state highways:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/LZtYNjGy1GBjmute7

that always have a different town name on each side because, unlike much of the country, the towns and cities in Massachusetts fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle with no missing bits.

I also found this beauty in Rhode Island, on a state highway:

https://maps.app.goo.gl/aopL9irAo3j3Cqfp8

If these eventually get replaced with MUTCD green, life will be a little more boring.

But I'd also like to complain about the "elevation" shown on lots of border signs. Elevation of what? In Florida it doesn't matter, because everything's always at the same elevation. But in California, I've noticed that the elevation shown on the signs for a particular town is the same all around it. Did you know that Malibu has an elevation of 16 feet? Never mind that quite a lot of it is at zero, and other parts are higher than anywhere in Florida. So they obviously refer to some central point of significance, which remains a secret. If I had to guess, I'd say City Hall, but since no one but the locals knows where City Hall is, that's a pretty useless sign. The solution is to put the elevation of the sign on the sign. That would be pretty obviously meaningful to everyone who sees it. Does any state do that?

[1995hoo]

I'm not a subscriber either. I posted it mainly in case anyone else was interested and knows someone who is.

[roadfro]

But I'd also like to complain about the "elevation" shown on lots of border signs. Elevation of what? In Florida it doesn't matter, because everything's always at the same elevation. But in California, I've noticed that the elevation shown on the signs for a particular town is the same all around it. Did you know that Malibu has an elevation of 16 feet? Never mind that quite a lot of it is at zero, and other parts are higher than anywhere in Florida. So they obviously refer to some central point of significance, which remains a secret. If I had to guess, I'd say City Hall, but since no one but the locals knows where City Hall is, that's a pretty useless sign. The solution is to put the elevation of the sign on the sign. That would be pretty obviously meaningful to everyone who sees it. Does any state do that?

The elevation is likely to be some specific point, but each state DOT may pick a different point for this. And this elevation listed could actually come from whatever the geographers and cartographers put on a map and specify as opposed to something that the DOT selects... I wouldn't think a DOT would give different town elevations on a sign based on where you enter the town...that could be several hundred feet difference depending on what side of town you're in. And would also require re-measurement of the elevation if the sign has to be relocated due to a town line change.

I see this as similar to determining the reference point of measurement when giving you the distance to a city/town on a highway mileage sign. Do you measure to the town border/city limit, or city hall, or the post office, or a prominent downtown business, or a significant highway junction therein? I would imagine that most DOTs are going to pick a specific location as opposed to the city/town limit line, because that location is unlikely to change (as opposed to a city limit line, as cities could annex additional land that changes the measurement). Same idea with elevation—give the "official" elevation from a selected point so that you have consistency in signage from all sides.

[formulanone]

This is how Mississippi does it for "municipal corporate limits":



Smaller unincorporated places just use a place name and that's it...