When my service provider upgraded from PHP 5 to PHP 7 some months ago, my website stopped working. I have now re-written the code. It is up-to-date with the current versions of PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript, JQuery, and mySQL.

You can access the database using the map on the left menu bar, or by clicking on this link : http://drkenjones.com/webPageUSMap.php

For those of you who have not seen the site, there are approximately 8000 ghost signs from around the United States.  I still have around 800 that I have not yet added to the database. I have photographed them all myself.

The site used to provide a map showing sign locations, but Google now charges me for that service, so I have deleted it. You still have access to Google Street View, as well as the lat/lon for most signs.

I just added around 600 more ghost signs to my database. These were signs I photographed in 2014, plus a few from 2015 and 2017.  The map shows where these newly added signs are located – mostly New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Connecticut.  There are a few others scattered around.

The map below shows the complete coverage of ghost signs in the database. It contains around 7300 ghost signs.  I still have another 1000 to add that I have already photographed.

Here is a gallery of some of the more interesting (and pretty) signs that I just added.  I have included some enhancements so you can see the separate layers.  If you want the signs’ locations, click on the map at the top of the left column of this page.  That link takes you to the database.

When I started photographing ghost signs in 2009, it occurred to me that, as the economy came back from the recession, buildings would start being renovated or torn down.  Of course, I was correct. As I update my database to include the most recent Google Map formats, i have found some that are now gone. Here are example of some of the best ghost signs that are no longer with us.

Coca Cola – Schenectady, New York (Demolished)

Charter Cigar – Irvington, New Jersey (Demolished)

Bridal Tomato Soup / Coca Cola, Irvington, New Jersey  (Painted Over)

Mail Pouch Tobacco / Owl Cigar, Columbia City, Indiana (muralized)

Quaker Oats, Boston, Massachusetts (covered by new construction)

Quaker Oats  / Moxie, Boston, Massachusetts (covered by new construction)

I had to truncate my route, eliminating a plan for Wisconsin, since I spent more time in Indiana and Illinois due to the road closures from flooding.

This sign in Vincennes, Indiana, has appeared since I was last there in 2010.

If you see these stars on a building, they are called “Star Anchors”.  They are a decorative way to cover the end of a threaded rod that braces the brick wall to the internal structure.  Apparently, these are taken down by people who sell them in antique stores, leaving the buildings vulnerable to collapse.

General Arthur Cigar in Plattsburg, Missouri

Terre Haute Beer in Linton, Indiana

When I first photographed this sign in Indianapolis in 2010, the building was supposed to be demolished.  However, here it is!  Jung’s Red Heart Beer’s Sustains Life [sic]. 

This great sign for Greenback Tobacco in Terre Haute, Indiana, was difficult to photograph. The tree branches touch the best part of the sign – an emblem of a happy frog.  I used a rope to pull branches back from the building, but still needed to photograph from many different positions and slanted angles. Note to self – carry a tree trimmer stick.

I drove through the beautiful Sand Hills in Nebraska on my way to some of the ghost signs in the West.

I “invented” my pole stick to specifically get this sign in Columbus, Nebraska, but hadn’t been back until this trip. It is a very nicely preserved Cremo Cigar ad.

Detail of the Cigar – part of the higher resolution imaging used for stitching.

I revisited Alliance, Nebraska to rephotograph this sign I first photographed in 2010.  This time, I used my pole to get the camera into a good position. However, it was also easier because a foreground tree had been removed. The town is undergoing a major makeover because it is one of many cities directly under the central path of this year’s Total Solar Eclipse.

It Came from Outer Space – 3 Dimensions, from the 1953 release.

Alliance makeover is in progress for the Solar Eclipse.  East Wyoming and Western Nebraska have the highest probability for clear skies on the eclipse date.  I thought it appropriate that one of the signs that is there is It Came From Outer Space.