50 Welcome Signs From 50 States

New Jersey was funny

Wow, no way dude that is just too cool!

Lou

www.Anonymous-VPN.de.tc

No DC???

Wow! As I went through the signs for all the states, i kept wondering where were the signs that prompted the comment about being making you fell "persona non grata." Then I got to the one from my home state of Virginia. Wouldn't you know it? And as much as I hate to say it, what it conveys is valid. State troopers will be sitting there awaiting your failure to keep it at  55 mph when you've come out of a state where you can do 60 or 65 on the same interstate. I'm sorry guys. I've been a Virginia resident all my life, but the truth is Virginia is a mean spirited state full of little mean-minded people. check our politics. Check our current governor and current attorney general - governor - president-annointed hand of God to be.

Oregon wins for originality and practicality.

Some of the other states are just...sad.

"Weee!....Who wants to go to Nebraska!...anyone?...

hello?...."

The West Virginia sign is incorrect.  It was always "Welcome to Wild, Wonderful West Virginia".  The current idiot governor changed it to "West Virginia - Open For Business".  After a near revolt, it was just changed to "West Virginia - Wild and Wonderful".  The oldest signs were better but at least now it doesn't sound like you are driving into the brothel state.

#43 is the most backwards sign in the country. 80% of texans dont drive friendly at all so how can it be the texas way?

New Jersey and NY are cool.

Pretty sure that each photo needs to be attributed to the photographer, unless they have granted a license to flickr (which the handful I checked had not)

Did Missouri and Mississippi have the same graphic designer?

WTF with the turkey on the Massachusetts sign? I'm from there and I still don't get it. It's fug.

I enjoy looking at all the signs espeacally michigan

I enjoyed the signs, but you are right, some of them could certainly use some creative updating! California, for instance, how boring! and such a beautiful and diverse state. Maybe someone can start a contest or something to design more original signs for some of the states. Others, such as Alaska and Idaho are awesome!

I think this is pretty cool(looking @ the variety of signs). A few of them stood out! I'm from Tn, and our sign was ok, but it could be alot better. Tennesseeans that have the money & power to change things like that, often pass up the opportunity.

Minnesota has the best design IMO.

California has a better welcome sign than the utilitarian one displayed:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Road_Sign_Welcome_to_California.jpg

Im ahead of my son for state visiting and he lives in New York compared to me who lives in the UK. Some of these  signs are very welcoming but some are just average which is a shame

Im ahead of my son for state visiting and he lives in New York compared to me who lives in the UK. Some of these  signs are very welcoming but some are just average which is a shame

Fraid not pal. I'm on 29. How about yourself? I'm more than half way!!!!

Sorry Dad.... flying over a state does not constitute visiting the state. You're still in single figures I'm afraid.

u r right about west virginia sign it should say wild and wonderful like it allways did

Very interesting and nice. Thank you for showing them. Some states  I have visted and  seen their welcome signs, others I have not. Again thank you for the viewing.

fuck off man. life really is good in nebraska

I think Colorado really needs to add some color to that sign!!!

The sign I always see when going to West Virginia says "Welcome to Wild Wonderful West Virginia."  We always seem to be going there in the rain so think "Wet" should be added in there somewhere.

I especially like Alaska, Arizona, Indianna and Michigan.  Nice and colorful and appear friendly. 

The Delaware sign is so fitting: Home of Tax Free Shopping. They sure can't claim scenery, recreation, or anything to be proud of. Like that line from the Simpson's: "I want to visit Wilmington!" Sure! And it's also the home of Delaware's douchebag, Joe Biden. Only a few people in Delaware are smarter than Joe Biden and they're leaving soon for a real state. Delaware is probably the most corrupt state in the Union and the ugliest with more Superfund ecological disaster sites than the rest of the country combined. Nothing good ever came from Delaware, including me.

I was wondering about that as well.  Odd choice to put up; California does have plenty of more artistic welcome signs.  Check out:

http://www.google.com/images?q=california welcome sign

Someone have something against the state, maybe?

Just a note about that Welcome to Oregon sign: I actually took that photo as my wife and I drove through the town of Oregon, Missouri. The sign is not in the state of Oregon. A simple check of my photo description on Flickr would have informed you of this.

By the way, I would have appreciated either permission to use the photo or at least a name credit, not just flickr.com.

Stanley Kost
"dinglemunch"

The pic for NH is wrong, it should be "live free or die". People threw a fit over "you're going to love it here" and the text was changed.

DC is not a state. They don't have many welcome signs, either. (Here's one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbell1975/2525449712/ )

The way to know you've crossed into DC is to check the streetlights. If they're painted gray, you're in DC. If they're yellow, you're still in Maryland. If you're south of the Potomac river, you're still in Virginia.

Ohio is also home to this, on Interstate 70:

http://n8sfc.com/roctober02/DSCN3438.jpg

In case you're wondering, the other side doesn't say "Welcome to Indiana," it says "Thanks for visiting Ohio" (IIRC).  It's like we're saying, "Ha ha, Indiana, you don't have an arch."

I have driven through plenty of these states, and a lot have better signs then you posted. This is especially true of New Jersey. The one you posted is funny, but they do have "real" welcome signs, not just digital boards.

who cares?

who cares?

I live in NY State,could we possibly have a more blander sign? Nope.

Minnesota and Wisconsin are my photo's, you should give photo credits instead of flickr.com, nice set though.

haha ... I am not even surprised they chose the Welcome to New Jersey sign over the Parkway ... classic. But hey, gotta represent ... proud to be one fine Jersey Girl ; - ) 

My favorite pic is Colorado though ... the guy in that pic rocks. 

The second I got to this page I was hoping we didn't have 'Open for business' on the site. the governor was an idiot with that. He would have had better luck with 'buy our stuff!' so that at least it looked like we weren't the hooker state.

Regarding those signs that are "boring": The same sign for a particular state doesn't appear at every point that a road crosses the state line. The fancy ones are usually reserved for major highways that see a lot of tourist traffic.

I agree.  The "Welcome to GA" sign on I-95 coming from Florida is much better.  It mentions the Braves winning the World Series and hosting the Olympics...

Hey, not to nitpick but WI has:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/afbach/3855223397/in/set-72157622014402379/

which is like MN's (I think they stole the idea from us ;-).

I have actually seen an alternative to the Missouri sign (I've also seen the one listed above as well-- it's pretty prevalent as well). The 'alternative' I've seen I think is when I go over the state line bridge on the highway (I-435? I think that's where it is) on my way into the three trails crossing memorial thingy/ the grandview triangle as everyone knows it. Instead of how the one listed is, the font is I think a little more italic, and it has the river going between the two S's.  I could be confusing signs, but I KNOW this alternate sign exists somewhere in the Kansas City area. 

The NJ sign was typical.

I'm from NC, and even though the sign was plain, seeing it and the flag made me feel WELCOME!

Very interesting!  I'm proud to see that you have used several of my photos which are posted on Flickr.com.

When I first saw my photos published with your list I assumed that they would be linked to my Flicker.com page.  However, this is not the case.  The photos are wrongly credited to Flicker, but Flicker does not own them.  They are my photos and should be credited to J. Stephen Conn.

I have placed these photos in the Creative Commons and am happy for you to use them.  However, they are NOT in the Public Domain and may not be used without proper attribution.

My photos in this list include Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Wyoming.  Please credit all of the above to J. Stephen Conn.

I don't mean to be picky, but as a professional photographer I must guard against my photos being placed inadvertantly into the public domain without proper attribution. 

You may find my Flicker photostream here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstephenconn/

Since when is Mississippi the birthplace of America's music? I know Elvis was born in Tupelo. They do have some claims to the blues. But so does Chicago. Ironically, the real birthplace of Jazz - America's music - is right next door in LA.

why didn't the mississippi sign have bullet holes in it?

My favorite is Arizona. I am from the province of Québec and our government don't put any money whatsoever for those welcome signs. I should actually push the gov so that we can get nicer signs.