The Sign Post Forest

Posted by Alex in Pictures, Travel & Places on June 13, 2008 at 3:14 pm


In 1942, in the middle of nowhere, an Army engineer posted the sign "Danville, Illinois, 2835 miles" to mark his hometown while building the Alaska Highway. That started the tradition of adding one’s hometown signs to the heap. Now, there are close to 50,000 65,000 signs in what became known as The Sign Post Forest.

Link | Flickr photos of the Sign Post Forest - Thanks JR!



Previous post
this post? Please email this            
Next post
FROM THE NEATORAMA ONLINE STORE » more



COMMENT

16 comments to "The Sign Post Forest"

  1. Jonny Blaze
    June 13th, 2008 at 4:43 pm

    2,528 miles to Milwaukee, WI

  2. Tilas
    June 13th, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    …wow. This is something I’d never thought I’d see on Neatorama! This is my hometown! However, you’re stats are wrong. At last count, there’s well over 65,000 signs now! Reading this post got me curious so just I phoned the Visitor Info Center and asked. :)

    For more info on the forest, go to-
    http://www.yukoninfo.com/watson/signpostforest.htm

  3. Andrea
    June 13th, 2008 at 5:13 pm

    WOW Ive so been there, my name is there!! My grandparents took me to alaska when i was 11 and we put our sign up!! All the way from St. Petersburg, Florida. I cant belive its still around we put our sign there in 1988!!!!

  4. ted
    June 13th, 2008 at 6:23 pm

    Wow. That’s a blight on the landscape.

  5. JC
    June 13th, 2008 at 8:16 pm

    Amazing!

  6. Kirkburn
    June 14th, 2008 at 12:18 am

    How many of those are stolen signs, I wonder?

    Well done to all those people for costing other people money.

  7. Thomas
    June 14th, 2008 at 10:31 am

    Many of the signs appear to be handmade, just to have something from your hometown represented. Also, street signs are replaced every 10 to 20 years. Where I live, they replaced all the old ones with larger ones with more reflective stuff and white borders. I got to keep a lot of the old ones, many of which were just left on the side of the road for the garbage men to collect.

    On the other hand, I’m sure a lot of them are stolen.

  8. nyahyah
    June 14th, 2008 at 11:20 pm

    makes me proud to be from danville!

  9. B W Bandy
    June 15th, 2008 at 1:13 am

    Never lived in Watson Lake but I used to live in Cassiar. I have seen it many times years ago. The photo does not do it justice.

  10. Pat J
    June 16th, 2008 at 2:12 pm

    I was there in 1981, when I was 8. There were a lot of signs there already, and we duly posted our own. I wonder if they’re still there. Maybe someday I’ll have to go find out.

  11. LuAllen
    June 16th, 2008 at 5:55 pm

    Been there done that. Liard River Hot Springs was much better.

  12. Lore
    June 17th, 2008 at 12:11 am

    @ Kirkburn: Just have some fun won’t you. Yea this probably cost some money but so what. How cool is it to have your home town sign in the middle of nowhere!?

  13. sunstudentfr
    July 15th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

    stone ocean all america green pets

  14. Jenny
    July 16th, 2008 at 12:07 am

    I think I’d get lost

  15. swngqqe
    July 17th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

    xyimdphkep ?

  16. aiqrcbta
    July 19th, 2008 at 11:16 pm

    dasxrjcpum ?


PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT

Neatorama Comment Policy
You don't have to register or login to comment, but it's easier if you do so. Comments aren't censored, but those that are abusive or off-topic may be edited or deleted.


Stay updated on the comments with Comment RSS