These signs stand about a block apart in Newton, NJ. The one on the left is unusual in that it is on the town square on the current alignment of US 206. The other is at the corner of Madison and Spring Sts. US 206 currently approaches Newton from the south on Woodside Ave. At Main St., it turns left and continues to the square. It may originally have continued straight on Woodside to the T at Sparta Ave., then left on Sparta Ave., which becomes Spring St., continuing to the square, where Spring intersects Main at right angles. Another puzzle is why this sign faces Union Pl., which comes to a dead end two blocks away. It doesn't seem to be a street that ever carried through traffic. |
Labor In Vain Brook is a small tributary of the Taunton River. Here it crosses Route 138 (County St.) in Somerset, MA. The name comes from a field on a local farm, which the owners referred to as Labor In Vain Field, due to the seemingly endless process of clearing rocks every spring. |
For many years, the Gingerbread Castle made Hamburg, NJ a favorite destination of parents with young children, who were entranced by the castle's depiction of fairy tale characters and stories. In recent years, though, it has fallen into disrepair and several attempts at renovation have yet to bear fruit. The town many years ago erected street signs with a depiction of the castle and some of these survive, although they are being replaced with conventional signs. |
In pre-Interstate days, signs like this one welcomed New York drivers whenever they entered a town on a state highway. This one sits at the western entrance to the town of Fleischmanns in the Catskills, on the old alignment of NY 28. About 40 years ago, Route 28, then a winding two-lane country road, was widened and straightened, making the area more accessible, but bypassing many of the little towns such as Fleischmanns. I wonder who took a bite out of the bottom of the sign. And what is a "higway," anyway? |
This sign is on Bridge St. in Margaretville, NY. When it was erected, this was NY 28 southbound. The highway came in from the left at the intersection in the background, turned right and crossed the bridge to a very narrow intersection, where it met NY 30, turned left and multiplexed for a few miles before splitting. Now it bypasses Margaretville, so NY 30 was rerouted to cross the bridge, then turn right and form a new multiplex with NY 28, which affords travelers, as it did previously, the opportunity to use NY 28 North and NY 30 South at the same time. |