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.
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 village of Fleischmanns in the Catskills, on the old alignment of NY 28. About 40 years ago, NY 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. The sign appears to have had a piece chipped out of the bottom. The painter appears to have been in a hurry when crediting the state highway department.
This sign is opposite the one above, facing westbound traffic on the old NY 28 alignment.
This appears to be either a restored sign or one designed in a 19th-century mode. It is located on US 6 in Windham County in eastern Connecticut. The use of the term Free Soil dates it to the mid-19th century.
This old directional, somewhat the worse for wear, is on the grounds of a motel in Fleischmanns, NY. New York was very precise in its mileage; note the distance to Highmount of 1 1/2 miles. The last time I passed by, this sign had been painted over in white, possibly in anticipation of restoration.
So far as I know, this directional at the Highmount, NY, crossroads is unique in New York and was probably erected locally. Traffic from the Belleayre and the now-defunct Highmount Ski Resorts reaches NY 28 here and the village of Fleischmanns no doubt was intent on attracting the skiers' business. Those state route shields have been there a while too. The road on the other side of Route 28 leads up to a condo development on the site of what was the Grand Hotel, the largest of the many resort hotels that once dotted the Catskills. It was demolished in 1963.
These old welcome signs have survived because NY 30, which once entered Schoharie (Sko-HAR-ree) here, has been realigned. The road now ends at Schoharie Creek, where a covered foot bridge built by convict labor spans the stream.
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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.
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.
Pittstown is a rural community in Alexandria and Franklin Townships in western New Jersey. The map underneath the inscription "R U Lost" is of Hunterdon County.
This sign would not encourage me to use the airport's facilities. The Cooperstown-Westville Airport is a grass landing strip in the town of Milford, NY, a few miles south of Cooperstown (note the propeller blades on the airport insignia).
These assemblies in Cranbury, NJ, date from the 1930s, when NJ 25, the main route from New Brunswick to Camden, passed through town. Traffic now bypasses Cranbury on US 130, which probably accounts for the town retaining much of its charm.
This old street marker now stands outside the Lakehurst, NJ, Historical Society Museum. The roads are the Toms River-Trenton Rd., probably today's County Route 571, and the Lakehurst-Alligator Rd. The Alligator is a ridge in northern Ocean County, but I am not sure of the road's present-day name or even whether it still exists.
I doubt there is an older road sign in New Jersey than this one on County Route 612 about halfway between Allamuchy and Johnsonburg in Warren County. The inscription reads "2 To LG". Johnsonburg was originally known as Log Gaol.