Uncle Sam billboard
The Uncle Sam billboard is a large, privately owned billboard in the U.S. state of Washington. The billboard is located directly adjacent to the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 in Napavine, Washington, around south of Chehalis, in Lewis County. It is considered a local landmark.
The billboard was erected in the 1960s and was used originally to display the right-wing political opinions of its owner, Alfred Hamilton. In June 2025, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation purchased the property and the sign from the Hamilton family. The billboard's final messages, which had been displayed since 2021, were removed;
the sign remained blank until October 2025, when the Chehalis Tribe displayed the message, "NATIVE LAND – #CHEHALIS".
Description
The two-sided billboard, which depicts a large painting of Uncle Sam on both sides, is located beside the northbound lanes of Interstate 5, near Exit 72, south of Chehalis in Napavine, Washington on Rush Road. The sign is situated on a commercial parcel measured at.History
The billboard's owner, Alfred Hamilton, began posting messages after I-5 was constructed across his turkey farm in the early 1960s to promote his "archconservative views in big block letters". The first messages on the sign, not yet containing the Uncle Sam feature, were posted by Hamilton and his wife, Ruth, based on their anger towards the government for funding welfare programs. Hamilton further resented the government for interfering with his ability to lease billboard space following Lady Bird Johnson's Highway Beautification Act of 1965. The lack of compensation for Hamilton's loss of farmland due to the construction of I-5 is also a noted precursor of the billboard.Hamilton advertised his turkey business along with his early postings in the late 1960s, and during the 1970s, the billboard advertised Hamilton's cattle business. In 1977, the state of Washington sued unsuccessfully for the sign's removal, claiming the landmark violated current anti-billboard laws. The first painting of Uncle Sam was added to the billboard around this time.
In a 2004 article, The New York Times described Hamilton as a "cranky crusader" who "loved a fight" and a "stubborn man, a turkey farmer with a big belly full of opinions". According to the paper, "Mr. Hamilton minced no words in attacking virtually everything and everyone that irritated him: gun control, the government and gays, Russians and radicals, Kissinger and Kerry." One of his friends recalled Hamilton's belief that "all Democrats were 'damn fools'", saying: "In many instances – and we were pretty close – I warned people not to get into discussions of religion and politics with him. He was so set in his ways that it was unusual." Hamilton once stated: "I'm not trying to convert anyone to my way of thinking. But I want to make people think."
Over the years, the billboard has occasionally been moved or modified due to conflicts with the state and federal government. The depiction of Uncle Sam on the billboard has been repainted at least twice. In 1995, The Seattle Times reported that Hamilton had sold his of land between Centralia and Chehalis, and that the sign and other buildings on the land would be removed. The land had been in the Hamilton family since 1945. He and his wife moved to Alaska but continued to own nearby land. In the year leading up to the sale, billboard messages were changed once a month; before then, they were changed weekly. The billboard was moved to its current site just inside the Napavine city limits in 1996.
After Alfred Hamilton died in November 2004 at age 84, his family, who did not necessarily share all of his views, was initially uncertain if they would continue with the billboard's conservative content and upkeep; Hamilton's grandson posted new messages periodically after Alfred's death. His son said, "I know the billboard had a lot of repercussions politically, from the state and the feds on down, because he voiced his opinions and sometimes he stepped on toes." I-5 motorists have been called a "captive audience", as congestion often causes traffic jams between Seattle and Portland, Oregon, both generally considered politically liberal cities. In 2003, a daily average of 50,000 motorists drove the stretch between the two cities, including northbound and southbound.
In June 2020, a petition listing 73,000 signatures was addressed to the Chehalis city council asking for the removal of the billboard, which sits in the city of Napavine. The request refers to purported statements posted on the sign as being racist and offensive while possibly creating a perception that the local communities are of such nature. The accuracy of an example shown in the petition was questioned. The appearance of the petition coincided with a brush fire deliberately set in an attempt to burn down the billboard that same month; damage to the sign was limited to minor charring of the supports. Later in the month, following a second petition to keep the sign, a rumored threat to the billboard spread. A group of approximately 100 people, including a county commissioner and county sheriff, gathered at the sign. The suspected dangers, ranging from blocked roads by those who wanted the billboard removed to possible anti-fascist violence, did not materialize.
Sale of billboard
The Uncle Sam billboard and the commercial property it sits on, was listed for sale in March 2025 for $2.5 million. The offer also included the possibility to purchase an adjoining, mostly undeveloped parcel also owned by the Hamilton family. In June 2025, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation completed its purchase of the billboard. In an announcement, the remaining political messages were to be removed and that there were no definitive future plans for the billboard.Approximately two weeks after the purchase, the last messages which had adorned the billboard unchanged since 2021 were removed. The final messages were, "How many Americans will we leave behind in Ukraine?" located on the northbound side, and "No one died in WW2 so you could show papers to buy food" on the side facing southbound traffic.
On October 23, 2025, the Chehalis Tribe changed the sign's message for the first time to read, "NATIVE LAND – #CHEHALIS". Announcements by the tribe mentioned the phrase to be "innocuous" and a "statement of fact", and that "no controversy or hidden meaning" is behind the updated sign. No plans to further change the messaging on the billboard were announced by the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation.
Messages
The billboard's conservative messages have targeted myriad subjects, including abortion, big government, and homosexuality. Hamilton said in a 1985 interview that several of the postings on the billboard were taken from the John Birch Society, of which he was a member. Hamilton further stated that he was not attempting to convert readers of the sign, desiring people to think for themselves, though he believed his ideas would be considered correct by those who researched the topics noted on the sign. Hamilton said that 95% of his musings were given favorable treatment.Messages that have appeared on the sign include:
- "There are no billboards in Russia!", ; first recorded message
- "Let's keep the Canal and give them Kissinger" ; Hamilton declared this his favorite message
- "Be thankful you live in America"
- "Bill Caruth tells why you must stick to your guns" ; refers to opposition to gun control
- "Evergreen State College- Home of environmental terrorists and homos?"
- "Seems a little queer" ; response to state laws banning discrimination against LGBTQ state employees
- "Hasn't Gregoire cost taxpayers plenty of $ $ in boo-boos?" ; Hamilton's last message before his death in November 2004
- "Where's the birth certificate?" ; refers to the birtherism conspiracy theory regarding President Barack Obama's status as a U.S. citizen
- "Oh, no! A virus! Quick - burn the Bill of Rights!" ; posted during the COVID-19 pandemic