A Survey of I-90 State Welcome Signs, and more!

This is what our trip home looked like, considered through the signs each state used (or lack thereof) on our move back across the country from Boston, MA, to the Twin Cities.

New York was all dark. I didn't think a black rectangle made for good reading.

Pennsylvania. It's really quite a pretty state for the roughly nine miles we were there.


"Thanks for paying to get into our state." - Ohio, at the I-90 toll plaza


"All those tolls you pay to get in here, and we can't even pave a straight highway. Good luck." - Ohio, coming into downtown (yes, downtown) Cleveland
The sign isn't joking, they're not exaggerating. This is a literal 90-degree turn. If you miss it, you end up in the drink otherwise known as Lake Erie.


Ahh, Indiana -- a sign you can easily overlook, just like your state.


Note: There is no "Welcome to Illinois" sign. Even the state thinks it's inferior to its most populated city. I happen to believe that the lack of sign probably has more to do with encouraging tourism -- but probably not in the way you think. If you had randomly decided to head east on I-90 and came to Gary, Indiana, you probably wouldn't continue on either if it was just Illinois you had to look forward to. The "Welcome to Chicago" sign is clearly an effort to tell passengers "It's OK -- you made it out on the other side! Keep driving!" (Have you been to Gary, Indiana?)


"Wisconsin Welcomes You"...


...Shouldn't this really be the sign they have instead?


Minnesota, hats off to thee... Your signs may be unremarkable, and you may not have the official "welcome" sign close enough to the border, but anything is better than another Gary, Indiana.