"SP'A." abbreviation on ~100 year old sign

[agentsteel53]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-Automobile-BEST-ROUTE-Richfield-Spa-Cooperstown-SIGN-Wood-AUTO-Club-CAR-/170987428055?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27cfa518d7

anyone want to tell me what "SP'A." is the abbreviation for?  I'm guessing it is indeed "SPA" as the auction description says, and someone goofed up when painting the sign.  the word "spa" has never been an abbreviation for anything; it's named after the town in Belgium.

[empirestate]

"Richfield Spa" is almost certainly what's meant, as Richfield Springs was one of the examples of the medicinal waters craze of bygone days. You've got another one up at Ballston Spa, and I believe Clifton Springs was one as well.

The extraneous marks are probably spilled paint, since this sign would predate any quality controlled mechanized sign printing processes.

[agentsteel53]

I see no other marks of spilled paint. I think whoever was painting it thought "spa" was an abbreviation.

[empirestate]

I see no other marks of spilled paint. I think whoever was painting it thought "spa" was an abbreviation.

Well, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt that he's a good enough painter not to have had that many spills. :-)

But, if you want another explanation, perhaps he originally wrote "Richfield Spr." and corrected it to "Richfield Spa". Or maybe he just wrote "Richfield Spa." with a period, as was more common in olden days that it is now.

[Kacie Jane]

I see no other marks of spilled paint. I think whoever was painting it thought "spa" was an abbreviation.

I agree that it's an odd coincidence that there are no other marks, but I think it is just spilled (or more accurately, dripped) paint.  The apostrophe looks more like a paint drop than an apostrophe to me, and the period is a smidge too high to actually be a period.