Are you familiar with the weathered, wooden “Welcome to Huntington Beach” sign on Pacific Coast Highway near the intersection at Warner Avenue? It’s been there since at least the early 1970s and, according to city historian Jerry Persons, may even go back to the late 1960s. When we first moved here 10 years ago, it was one of the first things that caught my eye. I’m a fan of roadside art, and “Welcome To” signs are a big part of that category around the USA, so I was pleased to see such a fine example of an increasingly disappearing era: that of charming signs on the outskirts of towns.
Unlike many others, this sign was never meant to be cute and kitschy. Rather, this was a big, sturdy, practical sign made from dense, unforgiving lumber. With its back to the ocean, it endured decades of sweet (but corrosive) salty air, wind and thick blankets of marine layer. The orange, blue and white paint was forever peeling; in a decade, I never saw a fresh coat on it. Still, it looked strong enough to endure a tornado. The sign doesn’t have a clever slogan on it like these things often do. Instead, the designer opted simply for the city logo designed by John Casado in 1968 — the classic “quadrant” with four icons representing the beach, neighborhoods, surfing and technology. There are other signs that look similar to this throughout the city, though they are much smaller, making this one seem like the “parent” of Huntington Beach welcome signs. So enamored was I with the sign that in the first book I wrote about Huntington Beach, back in 2001, I photographed it in black and white for inclusion as the very first image in the book — what better way to welcome the reader?
