Styles of County Line Signs

[WillWeaverRVA]

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:

This picture cracks me up every time I see it. How on earth did this happen?

[mjb2002]

 

Florida's aren't much to write home about.

If they'd take the Entering off, I'd give it five more thumbs up.

[PurdueBill]

Massachusetts expressway county line signage extends the green rectangular signage for town/city lines with a second portion below a white line.  This example, a little hard to see in street view, includes a third part for the river crossing on (gulp) route 128 (gasp!) entering Lynnfield:

ENTERING
LYNNFIELD
ESSEX
COUNTY
SAUGUS
RIVER

The white "book" paddle signs rule on non-expressway roads and occasionally appear on expressways but usually expressways have the green ones.

Ohio has signs like the Florida examples above for expressway/freeway routes, but usually with "County" in mixed-case, while surface routes have the "Enter XX County/Leave YY County" signage.  Indiana has similar signage on surface roads and most dual carriageway routes like US 24, while freeway routes have green signs that read the name of the county, e.g. "Tippecanoe Co." on a green sign--no "entering" and no mention of the county you are leaving.

[iowahighways]

Until about ten years ago, all Iowa county line markers were the size of cardinal directional markers. A few are still standing:


Starting around 2002, larger county line markers began to appear. All county line signs on Interstate highways were changed to this style by mid-2005.


Even newer markers (starting around 2006) are in mixed-case Clearview:

[ClarkE]

In Kentucky it's simply a green sign like this:

PERRY
COUNTY

With the exception of Louisville/Jefferson County, where the sign says

WELCOME TO
LOUISVILLE
METRO

[empirestate]

And let's all not forget this one, if Oscar will forgive me the direct link:

[sp_redelectric]

A Marion County, Oregon sign, on a county road.



A Tillamook County sign on a state highway.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/6042706639/

A Yamhill County sign on a state highway.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/auvet/6043252488/in/photostream/

A Polk County sign on a state highway.

These above signs all are optional signs with the county logo and are partially paid for by the county.  If the county doesn't pay, then a standard sign is installed:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_impression_that_i_get/1795015793/

A Multnomah County sign, on a county road

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zacharymaillard/6924450603/

A combined Entering Portland/Multnomah County sign, on I-205



Separate Entering Portland (with optional logo) and Multnomah County (button copy!) sign, on Oregon 99W north of Tigard and just before the I-5 interchange

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zacharymaillard/6924435287/

Entering Washington County, on I-5 in Wilsonville

[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:

This picture cracks me up every time I see it. How on earth did this happen?

Someone told ODOT to make a sign, and they did.

This happened too:

(Photo courtesy Eric Stuve)

[Road Hog]

Off-topic, but from a distance Oklahoma and Florida state highway shields are almost identical.

[formulanone]

Off-topic, but from a distance Oklahoma and Florida state highway shields are almost identical.

Ah, but you'll never find an Oklahoma Keys shield.

[ctsignguy]

Connecticut never signs county lines but they habitually sign every municipal boundary.

There are three styles. The signs on the Merritt Parkway just say the name with no other text ("Norwalk"). The signs on any other freeway traditionally have listed the exits within the municipality as well as the name:

   Darien
Exits 10-13
--------------
Town Line

Though newer ones sadly omit the exits - I believe this is for the sake of MUTCD conformance. And then you have the signs on non-freeways, which list the date of incorporation or settlement:

STAMFORD
SETTLED 1639
CITY LINE

Old style


Current style

[codyg1985]

Alabama typically does:

ENTER
{county name}
COUNTY

On a freeway the county name is mixed case; on other roads the sign is smaller and in all caps, but with the county name using a slightly bigger font than the rest of the sign.

Mississippi used to sign their county lines like Alabama, but newer sign installations just say

{County Name}
County

On divided roads and freeways, the entire sign will be mixed case, but on smaller roads the sign will be all caps and smaller than the freeway counterpart.

For the most part, Tennessee simply says "{COUNTY NAME} COUNTY" in all caps for both freeways and minor roads. The freeway signs are slightly larger, and the font is FHWA Series EM instead of FHWA Series D.

[oscar]

And let's all not forget this one, if Oscar will forgive me the direct link:

Kalawao County's other "unwelcome" signs (more on the trail down to the county -- including an updated one reflecting a slight relaxation on the ban on children -- plus another at the airport) are at http://www.hawaiihighways.com/photos-Kalawao.htm

[Brandon]

Installed by the Will County Highway Department (Caton Farm & County Line).



Kendall County gets a standard IDOT-style, non-freeway sign for the other direction.

[golden eagle]

Mississippi's county signs used to always say "ENTER HINDS COUNTY" (for example). MDOT is getting away from that and are now starting to use "Hinds County", especially on interstates and US highways.   

Alabama uses "ENTER Tuscaloosa COUNTY" for their signs.

[vtk]

On local roads in Ohio, the various County Engineer's Offices do various things.

ODOT Chapter 2D (Conventional Road) county signs are as previously described by 6a.

I haven't seen ODOT's Chapter 2E (Freeway/Expressway) county sign pictured yet, but this one from Oregon comes close:


Ohio does them the same way, but with County spelled out on a third line:


Newer installations are full-reflective-sheeting (since about 2003) and possibly Clearview (since about 2011).  Often they are in the median, but sometimes not.

PS– I don't think I have a picture of an undamaged Ohio freeway county line sign.  If you want to make jokes about this unfortunate spelling alteration, please join the others in the damaged signs thread.

[parker51]

Sheridan/Box Butte county (Nebraska) line on a rural highway. Unusual use of a blue and yellow 5-sided county route sign (versus a green and white rectangular sign) to mark entering a new county. There was no corresponding sign on the other side of the road marked "Box Butte County".  Any other examples like this?

[slorydn1]

In North Carolina you'll usually see a rather plain looking sign that looks like this right at the county line and then a more elaborate sign a little farther in like this.


There are a few county lines that have the older looking Welcome To/Leaving signs like this one.

[txstateends]

In North Carolina you'll usually see a rather plain looking sign that looks like this

Is it just me, or does the first/smaller county line sign look like it's too far off the road?  If the highway were due to be widened, I could see having the sign there, but otherwise, the sign's small size and not really being in a driver's line-of-sight make it not so easily visible.

[TravelingBethelite]

I seem to recall some state in the Mid-Atlantic used a format like this: ENTERING    Virginia seems to come to mind, two such
                                                                                                  AUGUSTA          counties I used as the example. 
                                                                                                   COUNTY
                                                                                               ----------------
                                                                                                   LEAVING
                                                                                                ROCKBRIDGE
                                                                                                   COUNTY

[Rothman]

Another North Carolina one.

[ModernDayWarrior]

I took a short road trip today and snapped this sign. This is what county line signs look like on rural two-lane roads in Missouri; major roads have different signage.

[Zeffy]

Maryland usually has them in the form of "Welcome to X County (or Baltimore City in terms of Baltimore)" or just "X County". They generally look like standard guide signs you'd find along any highway. New Jersey is interesting. Somerset usually has a "Somerset 4-H" green-on-white sign at the county lines. Hunterdon usually has "Welcome to Hunterdon County Founded 1714" in a white-on-blue curved-top sign. Mercer has green-on-yellow square signs saying "Welcome to Mercer County The Capital County".

[Alex4897]

Delaware puts a bit of effort into their county line signs.







Then again, I'm fairly certain they only sign county transitions on DE 1, US 13, and US 113.  I can't seem to find any mention of a transition on any minor roads.  If that's true, there's probably only five of these in the entire state.

[slorydn1]

In North Carolina you'll usually see a rather plain looking sign that looks like this

Is it just me, or does the first/smaller county line sign look like it's too far off the road?  If the highway were due to be widened, I could see having the sign there, but otherwise, the sign's small size and not really being in a driver's line-of-sight make it not so easily visible.

It is a little far, but not as bad as GSV makes it seem. I don't see them widening US-70 any more than it is on that area, not even if the bill that would designate this an Interstate corridor passes. Cove City is literally in the middle of nowhere.