Tupelo/Lee County, Mississippi

NOTE: To see photos of US-78 in Lee County, click here.

Tupelo:

This is the only truck route sign I know of in Mississippi, tho I may be wrong. Even at that, it's still an unofficial truck route, probably signed by Tupelo. Every sign on the "truck route" (actually Cliff Gookin and Eason Boulevards) says TO EAST 6 or TO WEST 6, with TO 45 sneaking in there sometimes. It's pretty obvious that US278 is not signed in Mississippi yet. (3/01)

This is a sign on Blair Street in Tupelo warning trucks not to come down that street if they can read the sign. (11/00)

I guess the houses are numbered 101, 301, 501, 701, and 901 on this side, with 201, 401, 601, and 801 on the other. I wonder what the address for Elvis's birthplace (three blocks from here) is? :-) (Actually, this sign indicates that addresses on this block are numbered under 100.) (6/17/01)

The only remaining sign I know of that actually still references Business US45 in Tupelo. It must be confusing for people on eastbound MS178/McCullough Boulevard who see that sign, go down the ramp, and find signs for MS145 (unless they realize that MS145 IS Business US45). On an unrelated side note, for years I had no idea how to pronounce McCullough (it's pronounced approximately McCola), so I always called it 178. However, many Tupelo residents don't know it's numbered 178. (3/01)

I have never seen this treatment used for directional signs before. This is on Cliff Gookin Boulevard just south of its intersection with MS6 (aka Main Street). (3/01)

Cliff Gookin and Eason Blvds. are signed with "to 6" signs. They are preferred for truck traffic. This assembly is obviously at Eason Blvd.'s junction with US-45. (2001)

Many Tupelo street-name signs use B-series lettering, which in my opinion looks better than any of the others. I really like the spacing on this sign, as well as the prefix being the same size as the suffix. (By the way, this is about fifty feet from the other sign, at the junction of Gloster Street and Blair Street.) (11/00)

Many new signs in and around Tupelo use Helvetica Extra Bold (it appears) instead of FHWA(B). While I like Helvetica's numbers better (and Helvetica in general), FHWA fonts look much better on signs (in my opinion). (5/01)

There is a trumpet interchange on Cliff Gookin Blvd. for the parking lot of Tupelo High School. This is a BGS on Cliff Gookin Boulevard for it. (6/17/01)

Interstate 178 is Tupelo's newest (and only) Interstate! It is incredibly substandard! It breaks the rules! It doesn't connect to another interstate! This sign should say MS178, not I-178. Also note that the Interstate colors are not used. In addition, the US45 sign is a cutout (probably not an old one tho) and in reverse colors. (7/31/00)

Here is a typical traffic light in Tupelo, complete with a street-name sign installed right on it. Sorry about the lousy picture. (4/14/01)

Lee County:

This is a sign for "Business MS145" between Tupelo and Saltillo on the Natchez Trace Parkway. These signs originally said Business US45, but when MS145 was certified they forgot to take down the Business banners. Every MS145 sign on the Trace has a Business banner. There is also one I have found on South Gloster Street in Tupelo. (4/7/01)

Lee County has some strange signs on some of their roads. This one has King Road in a blue Lee County pentagon. I suspect this road (along with other roads that have their names signed in pentagons) has a secret number, but I don't know. (3/00)

One word: WHAT?!?!?! (8/00)

This is an interesting BGS at the northern split of US-45 and US-45 ALT in Shannon. This is also the south end of that stretch of MS-145. (11/17/01)

Lee County (in Mississippi) signs county roads using a modified version of the traditional blue pentagon. Lee County's lowest number is 1 and its highest is 2900 (I think), so there are plenty of numbers. Usually, odd county roads are north-south and even county roads are east-west, with numbers increasing to the north or east. (Oddly enough, Road 1023 (they don't call it County Road 1023) is east-west.) (8/00)

Are we a little confused here? These signs are found on northbound 245 in Shannon. (6/17/01)

This picture shows the Lee County way of signing private roads (with a blue sign). This picture also shows a great way to sign a fork in the road.(11/00)

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