Truly historic Trenton signpost and signs.


SB at Parkside Avenue, inside the I-95 loop of Trenton.


SB at and past Denow Rd. The first junction assembly is probably going to disappear soon because it possesses the older shield. On the other hand, at least it provides the earliest warning of the upcoming interchange.

Denow Rd. WB has one, too.


The Pennington Fire Co. and First Aid Squad have been on Broemel Pl. for decades. While you marvel at the sign on the right, don't ignore the bizarre fonts mixed together on the sign at left.


Can you read black on black? NB.


Can you see a bridge? I can, and it's SB at Woodsville Rd. I know this bridge is old NJ 31 because Woodsville Rd. forms part of the border between East and West Amwell, and 31 forms much of the rest.


Around Flemington Circle with US 202 at the eastern end of NJ 12. As you can see, NJ 31 leaves 202 here to head north instead of northeast.


Heading NB from the circle, NJ 31 appears to pick up CR 523 and dump it off here with an ugly new sign and a handsome old one, but in fact CR 523 crosses and Bartles Corner Rd. is CR 612 until it gets back to 523. A little spacing never hurt anyone.

Same problem SB.


The only overheads to be found on NJ 31 are right here at I-78. Rather than sign the U-turn, which is only mildly useful, those last signs should include NJ 173, since an actual route begins right on that overpass. Notice that the old, faded overheads have clearly been rearranged over time. The I-78/US 22 BGS's only had I-78 WEST once upon a time, and that I-78 was probably a button copy shield (see NJ 17 at I-80). The NJ 31 BGS had Clinton added as a destination, with mismatched letters (and in one case with a sign extension!), and it also had the shield replaced from NJ 69. NJ 69 was the number from 1953 up until 69 started being more than just a swirly, yin-yang number and teenagers started learning how to use screwdrivers.


New to my personal collection, here is proof that NJ had a 69 at least as of May 1965. This was the only route number in NJ to ever receive a wooden shield, just because they were cheaper to make every time one got stolen. Amazing NJDOT even bothered to stick the date on. I can tell you, while this shield may be wooden, NJDOT did not skimp on quality - you could pour red wine all over this shield and it would all drip off without leaving a stain. Weather-resistant is an understatement. Half the weight of this sign is probably shellac.


SB, same notes as on the northbound side, with the token comment that Annandale should also read Clinton, since that's what happened to the northbound signs. Click on the fourth photo (if you're not sure, click all of them until one works) to see how the original NJ 69 shield was removed, along with the original Flemington destination, and all-new lettering and shield applied. Of course, all-new is relative, since this happened in 1967. Yes, these signs are at least forty years old.


A trio of old alignments seen from NJ 31 NB. The first becomes Main St. in Glen Gardner, and clearly wasn't cut off from NJ 31 until recently. The second is the old Musconetcong River bridge east of NJ 31 on the north side of Hampton, and the last is the stub end of Main St. at Asbury-Anderson Rd. I'm not even sure I can call these old NJ 31, as the state highway was built on its current alignment in the late 1920s-early 1930s. It's more "the roads that NJ 31 supplanted."


SB entering Washington and nearing NJ 57. There is an old residential alignment here cut off by the tracks - well, it crossed the tracks at grade, but that was closed many, many years ago.


Another railroad, near US 46, was cut off entirely, but the abutment left standing, similar to what happened on River Road in Middlesex, minus the overpass.

Mercer CR 640, old NJ 31 in Pennington
Onto Woodsville Rd./CR 612, old NJ 31
Old NJ 31 in Hunterdon County

Onto I-95
Onto US 202
Onto NJ 12
Onto I-78
Onto US 22
Unbuilt NJ 31 freeway on Steve Anderson's nycroads.com
See more of my sign collection
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