Street signs were a childhood obsession of mine. I could identify
what municipality I was in just by looking at the street signs.
In fact I still can, and it's occasionally a useful skill in Los
Angeles, where even natives are unsure of the boundaries of the
county's 88 municipalities, or incorporated
cities, as they are known here. These include the City of
Los Angeles, the City of West Hollywood, and the delightfully
tautological City of Culver City, to name but three.
Some areas of Los Angeles County, however, lie outside the boundaries
of any municipality. These unincorporated
areas are administered directly by the county. I can tell when
I'm
in an unincorporated area from the street signs too. However the
street signs issued by the county today are different from the ones I
remember from my youth, and the old ones are gone, for the most
part. The county seems more hell-bent on replacing their old
street signs than, say, the City of Los Angeles, where there are still
plenty of street signs that are older than I am.
I wanted to photograph some of the old county street signs before they
disappear altogether. I've noticed a few stragglers in West
Hollywood, which, until 1984, was an unincorporated area. And
here they are.
the old signs
an old sign with a new friend from Beverly Hills
today's West Hollywood street
signs
Either you enjoy this sort of thing or you don't. All photographs
taken December 24, 2004.
