Skip to main content

Where was this old sign photo taken?


A reader sent me the photograph above trying to locate where in Pennsylvania it would have been taken.  The photo was on the William Penn Highway (today's US 22), along the Allegheny Mountains at an elevation of 2430 feet.  The question is, what is the name of the summit, it is "(blank)N RIDGE SUMMIT".

I know of two major summits along the Alleghenies - Laurel Hill and Chestnut Ridge.  A look at the DeLorme Pennsylvania Atlas & Gazetteer doesn't show any ridges in the Alleghenies ending in 'N'.  So what ridge is it, and where along the William Penn Highway would this have been shot at.

Also, is there a modern version of this same highway sign standing today?

Comments

Brian said…
Wikipedia lists a Penn Ridge (no article) with a ZIP code of 15235 (a Pittsburgh ZIP) in Allegheny County, but I wouldn't have any idea if that's anywhere close to where the photo was taken.
Adam said…
Brian,

Penn Ridge would not be at an elevation of 2430' if it was with a Pittsburgh zip code. I think the highest point in Allegheny County is just over 1400' near where I grew up.

Penn Ridge and 15235 is in the Penn Hills area of Allegheny County.
Froggie said…
Cresson Ridge (naturally in Cresson Township), just east of the US 22 freeway, and just west of the Cambria/Blair County line. There is a modern version there, lacking the keystone shape and the "William Penn Highway", of course. Don't have a photo of it, but that's the one.
Larry G said…
well, I had no luck but another interesting thing about this locale is that it is near a place called Portage and Hollidaysburg which were the connect points for the Rail Portage for the Pennsylvania Canal that was supposed to connect eastern and western PA and compete with the Erie Canal in NY.

The Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site is accessed from U.S. 22 by the Admiral Peary Hwy out of Cresson.
NateOMatic said…
You can see it on Street View; here's a link showing the modern sign and even the same high-tension line tower in the background. (Take one step to the west to actually read the sign!)

Link: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Pittsburgh,+Allegheny,+Pennsylvania&ll=40.456091,-78.559885&spn=0,359.89048&z=14&layer=c&cbll=40.456101,-78.559779&panoid=lSor0LYW0NuzPBrrB7wcpA&cbp=12,322.7,,0,-3.53
Doug said…
Cresson Ridge sounds right in this case, considering that there is a ridge to climb to get to Cresson from the Altoona area.
Unknown said…
Looks like the Wm Penn Highway used to take that older route over the ridge before the freeway was put in, then. But forget that... what's with calling William Penn Highway the "Admiral Peary Highway?!?"
mike said…
Can someone around Charlotte help me out? Got an old postcard of a "Mary Lynn Motel" on Hwy US 601 and US 74 in Monroe, NC. It also showed a diner in the pic. Could someone see if the motel and diner are still there on your next drive through Monroe?

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.   The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue...