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Welcome Signs |
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You can tell a lot about a place by the
sign that welcomes you there... |
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<< Back to Pictures |
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This page, obviously, has LOTS of room to grow. Normally, when
I go places, I take a lot of pictures. I noticed that more
than one picture was of the "Welcome To" sign,
mostly to "prove" I've been there... I'll add more as I
have time, and as I visit new places and manage to grab the
"Welcome" shot...
Jump to:
WA OR CA
NV
ME MA
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Washington |
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is at the East End of Gray's harbor, and dates back to the
1850's, being settled just after towns along the Puget Sound. Hurt from
curbs in logging imposed during the Dark Times of the "Clinton Years",
the economy is even now only slowly recovering.
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Anacortes
Anacortes is located on Fidalgo Island, located along the western
shore of northern Fidalgo Bay. It was settled in 1865, and was a
major canning port for a variety of types of fish, as well as an
important hub for the logging industry. Sadly, only a small
portion of those operations remain, but the town, since the 1960's began
to promote tourism and retirement opportunities, and has done quite well
for itself in those ventures. |
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Arlington This is a total logging town... It was
incorporated in 1903, and its boundary to the south is the Tulalip
Indian Reservation. It got hit pretty
hard by the ban on logging in the National Forests... Currently, most of
the salary comes from folks who commute to Everett for work.
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Black Diamond
Coal was discovered in the hills in Washington Territory in the late
19th century. In 1884, The Black Diamond Coal company, located in
Nortonville California, outside of San Francisco, sent a team up to to
the Cascades to scout, and they found a rich strike, and set up
operations. They built a company town to give workers a place to
live (having families with them tended to keep the rowdiness down).
They built a railroad to the town to get the coal out, and began
digging. A miner would earn $1.50 a day for 10 hours of work.
The mine started scaling back operations in the 1930's, as oil replaced
coal, eventually closing down completely in 1958. In 1959, the
people who lived in the former company town incorporated, keeping the
name of Black Diamond. Its population is currently (2007) around
2000. |
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Browns Point
This town gets its name after the point its located
on, which was named by Admiral Vancouver on this discovery trek through
the Puget Sound. In his journal he describes the meal and how he was
greeted by a clamming party of about a dozen natives; possibly members
of the Puyallup tribe. He reported that he drew a line in the sand to
specify that the natives were to eat on one side and the white men on
the other; he did not want them looking over his shoulder as he ate.
However, two natives crossed over the line. Capt. Vancouver offered the
men venison pie, but believing it was human meat the natives were
horrified and would not eat it. Finally some of the group of natives
were taken to the cutter at the water's edge and shown the haunch of the
animal. Satisfied, they consented to join their visitors in eating the
pie. |
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Buckley
On the way to Mt Rainier, Buckley is a small town that is
having growing pains. Rising housing costs have made Buckley's space a
premium commodity, and more people than the infrastructure can handle
are moving out that way. Massive construction has not kept up with
traffic, and getting around can sometimes be quite difficult. Its
getting better though... |
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Centralia
George Washington, not that one, but the son of a slave, traveled to
the Pacific Northwest to start a new life. Like many 'non-white'
settlers, he was confronted at his arrival to Oregon City with the fact
that the Willamette Valley, the target for many making the trek across
the Oregon Trail, was 'white only'. Undaunted, he did what many
did: he headed north, and settled on a plot of land that he figured to
be the midway point between Seattle and Portland... which is where the
city gets its name. |
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Concrete
This is one of the more unique welcome signs you'll
see. This town got its name from the concrete factory that was built
near a large limestone deposit.Concrete's
Official Website
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Cosmopolis
The town next to Aberdeen, Cosmopolis means "City of
the World". The city was started when 5 friends started a brickyard,
and people working there just set up a homestead near the plant. The
area was Platted in the 1860, and it was incorporated in 1891.
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Darrington
Darrington started out as a Mining and logging town
and has somehow figured out how to survive the decline of both. |
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Elma
Elma got its start as a trading center for homesteaders who began
settling in the Chehalis River Valley, and by 1875, the plat of Elma was
laid down by a James Waldrip, who owned a Gristmill, a store, two lumber
mills, and a blacksmith shop... and, his store was also the post office.
The Tacoma, Olympia, and Grays Harbor Railroad line was built through
the town, which further enhanced it as the hub of commercial services in
the eastern regions of Grays Harbor County. Timber and Agriculture
remain today as the bulk of Elma's economic structure.
Local lore varies, but "Elma" seems to be the name of the daughter of
a friend of Waldrip's... he named the town in her honor. |
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Grays Harbor County
Its mostly a joke, but because of the way the
Black Hills affect the weather, the skies usually do go gray at the
county line...
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Hoquiam Hoquiam is the neighbor of Aberdeen... Like its
neighbor, it relies on shipping and logging for its primary source of
income..
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Ilwaco
in 1849, a John Holman bought a "Large hotel... fully equipped", and had
it transported from San Francisco to Ilwaco, then called "Pacific City".
After that running start, the land was taken by the Military, hotel
included, and Holman moved his claim to what is now downtown Ilwaco.
Fishing has always been a part of the town, even to this day, but in the
1880's, Ilwaco became famous for the Gillnet Wars, where trap and net
fishermen fought - sometimes to the death - over fishing rights.
It currently has 800 residents, with about 3,000 more showing up for
the fishing season. |
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Kennydale Kennydale is one of those places where everyone
considers it a town, but it isn't... its actually part of Renton.
In 1904, a post office opened in the community, but it never
incorporated. As its neighbor, Renton, grew, the city limits were
extended around Kennydale, and it became a neighborhood of its larger
sibling.
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Leavenworth Back in the 1950's, the town decided to redesign
itself into a German Bavarian village, which is where most of the
townsfolk had come from, anyway.
Leavenworth's Official Website
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Longview
Longview was settled in 1849 by Harry and Rebecca Huntington.
It was from here that the state leadership assembled to petition
Congress for Statehood under the name "Columbia". Congress agreed,
but thought that "Columbia" would be confusing with "District of
Columbia", so named it "Washington" insead. Too funny.Longview
is one of the first cities to be planned by a company. Long-Bell
Lumber was planning to start a mill, and mapped out the town, including
residential. industrial, and commercial zones, which helped Longview
quickly grow, outpacing its neighbors, and for a while was the largest
city in the state. |
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Long Beach The town makes its bread and butter off its name sake,
and at 23 miles, Long Beach sports the longest unbroken sand beach in
the US.
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McCleary
One of McCleary's claims to fame is that it had a library 15 years
before it incorporated. Its a small, quiet town that dates officially
back to the 1930's, but had folks living there for quite some time
before then. |
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Mercer Island
Being Mercer Island, you KNOW it can't just be a street sign -- it had
to be something worthy of the town... :-) |
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Moclips
A small beach and fishing town, this town isn't developed at all...
there's signs that things are turning towards the tourist industry, but
the inroads are still small... |
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Montesano This is yet another town hit hard by the restrictions
to logging imposed during the Clinton Years.
A curious thing about the population marker... if you come in from
this side, its 3375... if you choose to enter from the other side, its
3216.
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Mossy Rock This little town is a ways "out there"... its in a
good spot to get gas, though, and they have a huge Ford dealership
there.
Its also a good indicator that you're getting close to the highway.
Mossyrock, WA City Chamber of Commerce
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Mount Rainier There's lots of these signs around! This one, on
State Route 7, does a pretty good job at describing the mountain in
general terms.
Mount Rainier
National Park (National Park Service)
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Ocean Shores
A resort town on the Pacific Coast, Ocean Shores is a small town
with big dreams. Its beset with erosion difficulty, due to changes in
the prevailing ocean currents (which doesn't have anything to do with
humans), but its still the place to go in the area when it comes heading
towards the "Ocean Beaches" area of Western Washington.
More at:
Ocean Shores Trip Pics
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Olympia, WA This one was sort of easy... I used to live here! Settled
and established by a Pioneer from Maine, it is the second oldest
community in Washington, and the oldest on the Puget Sound. Its also
the Capital of Washington State, and even with a population of about
50,000 or so, it has managed to keep the 'small' feeling about it.
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Pacific Beach
This sign provides the "Gateway" to the resort town of Pacific Beach.
Very small, and not very developed, Pacific Beach is rife with small,
quaint hotels, although newer facilities are slowly transforming the
town's look and feel. |
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Port Plaza, Olympia, WA The port area of Olympia historically has
been a little "rough". The city wants to change that image, so they
spend a bunch of money "revitalizing" the port complex area, and made it
more friendly to visitors.
Restaurants, walking paths, a marina... its working.
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Puyallup Home to the largest state fair in Washington, Puyallup
is a larger city with a small feel about it, although its increasingly
becoming more than a "burb" of Tacoma. One interesting tidbit
about Puyallup is that it has one of the best school districts in the
state. |
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Rainy Pass US 20's route through the Cascade Mountain Range is
aptly named!
This pass closes most winters in the winter, due to snow that can
total more than 100 feet in a single season!
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Raymond
I'm not too sure why they put the "on the Willapa", because there's only
one Raymond in the state. I guess it sounds cooler... or they wanted to
get a reference to the river in... at any rate, Raymond is a pretty
small town. They have some interesting artwork along the main roadway,
though... someone went nuts with a cutting torch or something. Like the
sign welcoming you to town, the art is cut from a half-inch metal plate. |
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Redmond
Redmond is the home of Microsoft. It calls itself the "Bicycle Capital
of the Northwest"... Population: 40,000 or so. |
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SeaTac Formed when they were building the SeaTac airport in a
successful effort to keep some of the money generated by the airport
local to where the airport actually is, SeaTac is about midway between
Seattle and Tacoma.
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Sequim If you drive on the Olympic Peninsula, more than likely,
you've driven through Sequim (pronounced "Squim"). Still a
relatively small town, Sequim is growing quite rapidly, and there have
been considerable changes in recent years.
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Skykomish Nestled in the Cascades, this little town played an
important role in the glory days of the rail road. Quaint, and still
managing to thrive, the town has a lot to offer those who would care to
look for it.
See more of
Skykomish, WA
Town of
Skykomish Official Website
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Shelton
This town of about 10,000 or so is home to the largest Timber Mill
in the US. It has been Continuously operating since the mid 1850's, and
while still the largest operating mill, it was at times much larger than
it is now. Shelton is very proud of its heritage, and of the logging
industry that has so shaped its past. |
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South Bend Way, way West of North Bend, South Bend is the Pacific
County Seat, and is apparently a great place to raise a family and a
nice place to retire... they are right about their courthouse, though...
its a great photo op, so maybe the rest of the sign is true, as well.
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Tenino Named for the Rail Routes "Ten" and "Nine-0h" (90), Tenino
remains an important junction on the rail routes in the area.
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Toledo Toledo calls itself the "Gateway to Mt St Helens. Its on
the way, if you take Highway 504 (the 'back' way), that is...
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Wilburton Wilburton was settled in 1904, with the installation of
a Mill. The mill workers set up households around the mill, and
the town was formed. As Bellevue grew, it eventually absorbed
Wilburton, and it is now a neighborhood of the larger city.
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Oregon |
Astoria
The Lewis and Clark expedition spent the winter at the mouth of the
Columbia, not far from where Astoria is now. At the time, an
native summer village existed where Astoria is now.4 years after the
expedition left, Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company sent an expedition
that eventually founded Fort Astoria as its primary fur-trading post in
the Northwest, and it was the first permanent US Settlement on the
Pacific Coast. It provided the basis to the US Claims to the
territory. It was also home to the first Post Office west of the
Rockies. |
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Seaside
Seaside was the "turn around point" for the Lewis and Clark
Expedition. They camped for the winter at their "fort" at the
mouth of Columbia, and built a camp to make salt on the sandy beaches -
they made 2-3 gallons of salt a day during the winter, in spite of the
rain.
Seaside has pretty much always been the side neighbor of Astoria, its
larger neighbor. Early in its history, Seaside's beaches became
well known, and it became the resort town that people from Portland went
to on vacation. It remains a destination for beach combers to this
day, and rightly so.
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California |
Napa Valley
To the Wappo Indians local to the region, "Napa" means land of plenty.
Charles Krug opened the first winery in the valley in 1861, and within
30 years, more than 140 wineries were in operation, establishing the
region as the wine headquarters of California, if not the US.
Today, more than 260 Wineries ply their trade in the near-perfect grape
growing environment the valley enjoys.
I don't know about the "Bottled Poetry" part... but I would
surely say it is a fun and interesting place to visit! |
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Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco is a 1500 or so acre park, part of the
Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It was a military post in
continuous use from 1776 to 1994, spanning Spanish, Mexican, and US
involvement.It was established by Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza, of
Spain, as the northernmost outpost of Colonial New Spain (Mexico).
In 1994, the last soldiers of the US Army marched out of the post, and
turned it over the the US Park service, allowing millions to enjoy the
beautiful vistas the park enjoys. |
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Nevada |
Virginia City
Virginia City virtually appeared overnight in 1859, with the discovery
of the Comstock Lode, a silver strike that eventually would yield some
$400,000,000 in silver ore. The Comstock not only put Virginia
City on the map, but it also paved the way for the Nevada Statehood only
5 years later, and it also helped establish San Francisco as a port
city.Mark Twain was "born" here in 1863, when Samuel Clemens, a local
reporter first used his famous pen name. |
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Maine |
Arundel
The town of Arundel is SMALL... how small, you ask? In the 1980's, it
seemed that the mayor was going to lose his reelection bid after being
mayor for more than 24 years... he camly told reporters that if he
wasn't elected for another term, he wouldn't let the city hold their
meetings in his basement anymore, and they'd have to pay to store the
city's records, also in his basement. He won by a landslide! |
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Biddeford
This is my old home town. Settled in 1630, its one of the oldest
communities in the country. Its population is about 20,000. |
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Cape Elizabeth
Cape Elizabeth has been a community since the mid 1600's, but it
petitioned for recognition later, in 1763. Its home to Two Lights and
Portland Headlight, and is the "in" place to live if you work in
Portland. |
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Kennebunk Port
Home to the Bush Family Summer Residence, this little town has history
dating back to the discovery of the state of Maine. Picturesque and
quaint, it is an excellent place to visit to get the "flavor of Maine". |
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Kennebunk
Settled in 1633, and situated along the banks of the river its named
for, Kennebunk has held on to its farming roots, and keeps the flair of
the past alive while continuing to grow as a community. |
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Ocean Park
When Old Orchard Beach raised its taxes to help recover the expense of
adding sewage and water service, Ocean Park decided to form its own
community. The two towns are very much alike, and you can't really tell
where OOB ends and Ocean Park Begins |
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Pine Point
Pine Point is the one community to benefit from the Jetty at the mouth
of the Saco River. Silt that used to be deposited at Camp Ellis is now
being deposited on the beaches of Pine Point, creating a fairly large
dune, and providing a very healthy shoreline. Pine Point struggles to
remain uncommercialized, and keeps its charming quaintness, but it is
slowly being overrun and becoming increasingly built up. |
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South Portland
The second largest city in the state, behind Portland, South Portland
has grown over the years... established in 1745, its more than 100 years
younger than its neighbor. A boon to those looking for more space than
the cramped city of Portland could offer, South Portland has been
dealing with density issues for more than 100 years. |
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Wells
The beach town of Wells is home to the largest lighthouse store in the
world. Full of life in the summer, the winters in Wells is very quiet,
and there's almost a ghost town feel to it. |
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Massachusetts |
Arlington
Now a suburb of sorts to Boston, Arlington has a long history, dating
back to 1635. It held a major garrison of British Soldiers near the
start of the Revolutionary War. |
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Winchester
Home of the famous Armament Company. |
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Added in 2002 |
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