500 Court Street, Portsmouth, Virginia

I am back at the Urban Lettering Project today.

It has been a gentle morning -- high clouds, great walking weather, low traffic, good day for wandering around Olde Towne Portsmouth. I sat on a few benches, talked to a few bums, watched a few characters, thought a few thoughts -- gentle morning.

Historical Placard Q 8A Trinity Church
500 Court Street, Portsmouth, Virginia
circa 1965

Here is my find today in my lettering and topography quest near the Tidewater Community College | Visual Arts Center | 340 High Street.

This sign is inside the church yard. It is the standard issue "this is a historical place" sign that are found with great frequency along this portion of the eastern coast of the USA. They are cast in lead, seem to be quite heavy, and all with the same display lettering and justified body text. A good 8 feet off the ground on a 4 inch black metal pole. This one is painted silver with a black paint rolled over the raised lettering and raised border elements, which I would think is easy to maintain.

My father loves these signs. He always stops and reads everyone that we pass when he is here visiting from the West. He loves history and just wants to know what has gone on.

I was particularly interested in this section of this sign as the 1 in 1820 is quite a bit larger than the other figures and dwarfs the 8 which is the smallest (shortest) of all four of these figures.

I have seen and read many of these signs and I am constantly struck by the awkwardness in their execution. The word spacing is always wonky with large white open spaces midline, and often proper names are hyphenated, as can be seen on this sign in the word Chesapeake, which is not only a place name but in this case is also the name of a ship.

This sign commemorates the church and churchyard (built 1762), the Revolutionary War dead and the military ships that launched and fought off these shores -- there are plenty -- the US Chesapeake is mentioned as well as the H.M.S. Leopard for actions in 1807. This sign was made for the Virginia Conservation Commission in 1946 (noted on sign).

I am currently of the mind that I would rather read a sign, posted with great decorum, that says something like: "Absolutely nothing happened here. Everyone has always lived in harmony and attended dinners every Friday evening together where they ate and drank way too much. So drive on." But I have yet to see such a sign as that.

Okay ~ because I am a nerd ~ I have done more research about these signs. In 2007, each sign cost $1,376, including shipping. In 2009, there were over 2,200 of these historical markers in the state of Virginia. The program to have these signs made and installed in Virginia orientated in 1927. This sign was probably cast locally, because it is set in all capital letters which is unusual for historical markers outside of this region and across the USA; it may have been produced within the Virginia prison system in 1946.

My guess might be that this typeface is based off of the Akzidenz-Grotesk typeface.
Differences are based on these letters, which are the most unique in this type:
J with a enlarged lower bowl, and the
G with a awkwardly unfinished lower termination, and the
2 with a raised oblique stroke, and the
A with its dropped horizontal stroke, and the
7 which both ends start at the left edge of the letter, and the
W with slanted outside strokes, and the
. with square periods.
AND Akzidenz-Grotesk was designed in the late 1800s, released about 1897 by the H. Berthold AG type foundry in Berlin, therefore this typeface was available when this project was started in 1927, and it was quite popular and widely available.
That is my guess.

My first guesses were Folio and Helvetica but these typefaces were not designed until 1957 or so, about 10 years after this sign was placed.

Other urban topography & lettering photos in this series:

In Olde Towne Portsmouth, Virginia
All Saints Chapel : 500 Court Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
Historical Placard Q 8A : 500 Court Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
FOOTE Memorial Stone : 500 Court Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
Bangel Law Building : 505 Court Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
Portsmouth Public Library : 606 Court Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
Pythian Castle : 600-612 Court Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
Chapman Building : 310 High Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
Coffee House Facade : 300 High Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
Towne Bank Building : 200 High Street, Portsmouth, Virginia, USA

In downtown Norfolk, Virginia
Martin Building : 300 Granby Street, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Velvet Lounge : 332 Granby Street, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
Madison Hotel : 345 Granby Street, Norfolk, Virginia, USA
The Fontaine Room : 345 Granby Street, Norfolk, Virginia, USA