Styles of County Line Signs

[CentralCAroadgeek]

On our trip to the Northwest last week, I've noticed several different types of county line signs. I've always thought that it was all like this (at least in California):

Monterey
COUNTY LINE

I've noticed all mixed-case:


The "normal" style with "Where We Honor Veterans":


I've only noticed these variations in Northern California, whereas in Southern and Central California, I've only noticed one single type.
___________________

I'm guessing this is the normal county line sign elsewhere in the country:


And one with "Where We Honor Veterans":


What are other variations on the county line sign in the US?

[Brian556]

Jackson Co, Alabama on OLD US 72 at Tennessee State Line


These one-liners are common in Tennessee:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=marion+county,tn&hl=en&ll=34.986831,-85.468826&spn=0.093666,0.2005&sll=35.474092,-86.143799&sspn=2.979194,6.416016&hnear=Marion,+Tennessee&t=m&z=13&layer=c&cbll=34.986939,-85.468854&panoid=0huTcVCPaTja6xjC6QgStQ&cbp=12,314.68,,0,0

[Scott5114]

In Oklahoma, the standard type on freeways is:
McClain
County

But on surface roads, it's just a one-line "GRADY CO."

Then there's this:

[Road Hog]

Texas county line signs have changed. Here is an old sign:



Here is a new sign:

[Road Hog]

In Oklahoma, the standard type on freeways is:
McClain
County

But on surface roads, it's just a one-line "GRADY CO."

Then there's this:

Ah, the world-famous Frankensign!

[6a]

I don't have a picture handy, but here you see a lot of

ENTER
FRANKLIN CO

LEAVE
MADISON CO

[Special K]

I don't have a picture handy, but here you see a lot of

ENTER
FRANKLIN CO

LEAVE
MADISON CO

You're not the boss of me!

[1995hoo]

I don't have a picture handy, but here you see a lot of

ENTER
FRANKLIN CO

LEAVE
MADISON CO

That style has long been the norm in Virginia as well. Here's a Street View image of one I passed on Saturday (although the word "Enter" is obscured by a tree branch).

Various other styles appear occasionally; this one on eastbound I-66 is perhaps the most unusual I can recall.

[vdeane]

In Oklahoma, the standard type on freeways is:
McClain
County

But on surface roads, it's just a one-line "GRADY CO."

Then there's this:

NY uses signs in that style, but without the font mess.

[Jim]

Here's one from PA, I-70 East back in 2003.

[Jim]

Still in PA in 2003, this one with a URL for the county.

[Jim]

North Carolina sometimes gets a little fancier:

[Jim]

My experience in Massachusetts is that county lines are rarely signed.  But once in a while, the county gets mentioned on the standard town/city signs:

[rawmustard]

For conventional roads in Michigan, the style has typically been "ENTER [[WHATEVER]] COUNTY," but as those have been replaced, they've more closely matched what are on freeways, which is styled "[[WHATEVER]] County" (they follow the standard mixed-case rules).

[Alps]

I thought I had a better version, but maybe it's in the 2014 queue. The Garden State Parkway puts the county name inside a pentagon.

[Ian]

New Hampshire's is pretty cool. It's written vertically on a thin sign right next to the name of the town you're entering as well, which is also vertical. Since I don't have a photo offhand, here's one courtesy of Steve:


The county signs that PennDOT posts on the more minor non-freeway roads look almost identical to the Washington COUNTY sign that Jim posted a photo of, except the sign is a much smaller rectangle, and the county name is also all upper-case. Here's an older, much crappier photo of mine of the ones I speak of:


Maryland's is decent. They like to use the Welcome to [county name] County (or in this case, "Co) with what I think may be the given county's seal on the top left:

[roadfro]

Here is a new [Texas] sign:

Nevada uses county line signs similar in design to this. The county name is a bit smaller and we do it without the Clearview.

[empirestate]

My experience in Massachusetts is that county lines are rarely signed.  But once in a while, the county gets mentioned on the standard town/city signs:

If I'm not mistaken, that happens at county lines...so, in other words your photo is an example of Massachusetts county line signage.

Or have you seen the county mentioned internally?

[txstateends]

Texas county line signs have changed. Here is an old sign:



Here is a new sign:

Prior to the "old" green county line signs, TX had a sort of "obelisk" pole that was 3-sided, 1 side faced 1 county, 1 side faced the other county, the remaining side faced away from the road.  The printing in all-caps started from the top and came down, printed vertically, black-on-white.  The height of the poles depended on how long the county name was.  Most of the time, the poles were on the south side of the road if it was an east-west road, and on the west side if the road was north-south.  I'm not sure about a timeline, but I think the poles were used until sometime after the introduction in TX in the mid-1970s of the white-on-green guide signage.  A later version that didn't last nearly as long as the poles, was a modified flat version.  Here's one I actually found:



It's REALLY beat up, and I'm amazed I actually found one online, because it's been *years* since they were regularly used.  Anyway, as you can see from the pic, instead of an obelisk/pole arrangement, it's done as if the old style were unpeeled or unwrapped and flattened.  The middle line supposedly was the county line, while each county's name was on each side of the line.  The sign was oriented sideways, so when you drove by you would have to look beside you, not ahead of you as you passed the line.  I'm not sure how reflective the original poles or the later flat versions were, but I would think the modern day initial ones and current ones are infinitely better to see at night.

[agentsteel53]

I do not believe I've ever spotted such a post in Texas.  I will keep my eyes peeled!  I feel like those are more for maintenance purposes than the general public, and that is why they are positioned so seemingly inconveniently - therefore, there is a good chance they will survive a bit longer than public-consumption signage.

Maine has something similar as well, with the county being entered and being departed lined up vertically, parallel.  but their signs are oriented towards the driver, with "ENTER" and "LEAVE" placed as needed above the county names.  furthermore, the signs come in pairs - one in each direction. 

[Jim]

My experience in Massachusetts is that county lines are rarely signed.  But once in a while, the county gets mentioned on the standard town/city signs:

If I'm not mistaken, that happens at county lines...so, in other words your photo is an example of Massachusetts county line signage.

Or have you seen the county mentioned internally?

I have never seen a county on one of these mentioned internally.  I am not sure how common they are at county lines, either.  Of my about 175 pictures of these "Entering" signs (found on non-freeway state and US highways at every city/town border, for those who don't know), I can find exactly 2 that show a county name.  Here's the other:



This one is also a state line, taken on US 202 North.

It's likely there are more of these at county lines that do list the county, but I think I can say that there are many such signs at county lines that do not make mention.

Entrances to Berkshire County have had signs like this:



This one was entering Savoy westbound on Massachusetts 2.

However, the last time I entered Berkshire County on something other than the Mass Pike, Route 2 East into Williamstown, I noticed a new design for this.  I didn't have a chance to get a picture.  The ones like the example above were in place through much of the 200x's at least.

[Road Hog]

Texas county line signs have changed. Here is an old sign:



Here is a new sign:

Prior to the "old" green county line signs, TX had a sort of "obelisk" pole that was 3-sided, 1 side faced 1 county, 1 side faced the other county, the remaining side faced away from the road.  The printing in all-caps started from the top and came down, printed vertically, black-on-white.  The height of the poles depended on how long the county name was.  Most of the time, the poles were on the south side of the road if it was an east-west road, and on the west side if the road was north-south.  I'm not sure about a timeline, but I think the poles were used until sometime after the introduction in TX in the mid-1970s of the white-on-green guide signage.  A later version that didn't last nearly as long as the poles, was a modified flat version.  Here's one I actually found:



It's REALLY beat up, and I'm amazed I actually found one online, because it's been *years* since they were regularly used.  Anyway, as you can see from the pic, instead of an obelisk/pole arrangement, it's done as if the old style were unpeeled or unwrapped and flattened.  The middle line supposedly was the county line, while each county's name was on each side of the line.  The sign was oriented sideways, so when you drove by you would have to look beside you, not ahead of you as you passed the line.  I'm not sure how reflective the original poles or the later flat versions were, but I would think the modern day initial ones and current ones are infinitely better to see at night.

There was a sign like that on the Grayson-Collin county line on SH 289 until a few years ago when some utility work was done and the sign was removed. It was on the edge of the ROW and faced the highway at a perpendicular angle. I never knew that was the original standard.

[Ian]

Maine has something similar as well, with the county being entered and being departed lined up vertically, parallel.  but their signs are oriented towards the driver, with "ENTER" and "LEAVE" placed as needed above the county names.  furthermore, the signs come in pairs - one in each direction. 

I don't think I've ever seen such a sign in Maine. There are several places where these signs exist...

[agentsteel53]

I might be confusing it with New Hampshire, but I feel like there are some on ME-11 and US-302.

[mjb2002]

Here's one from PA, I-70 East back in 2003.

That Washington County sign is correct, at least lettering-wise. County is NOT part of the place name. Of course, you all were the ones who told me about that when I posted about City Limit.