WA’s Chehalis Tribe acquires long-criticized ‘Uncle Sam’ sign
Controversial I-5 billboard gets new buyer
A controversial Uncle Sam billboard in Napavine, Lewis County, known for decades of racist and offensive messaging, has a new owner: the Chehalis Tribe.
LEWIS COUNTY, Wash. - A decades-old lightning rod along Interstate 5 in Lewis County has officially changed hands.
The Chehalis Tribe has purchased the property housing the infamous "Uncle Sam" billboard — a towering and polarizing symbol that’s drawn both fierce criticism and staunch defense since it first went up in the mid-60s.
What they're saying:
"I mean you just can’t miss it. It’s right on I-5," said real estate agent Israel Jimenez, who handled the sale. "Everyone, everywhere who is passing through here seems to know about it."
The parcel off Exit 75 had been listed for $2.5 million. According to Jimenez, the Chehalis Tribe reached out within the first week of his posting.
"The tribe doesn’t even really know what they’re going to do with it. They’re just excited that they got it back," he said.
Jimenez, a Napavine native, said the billboard has long stirred emotions.
WA tribe buys controversial billboard
The backstory:
"This has been here since 1967, and just shortly after it was put up, it immediately had pushback," said Jimenez. "Within a decade there was a lawsuit to remove it."
That lawsuit came in 1971, when then-Attorney General Slade Gorton sued under the Scenic Vistas Act, aiming to have the sign removed. But the Washington State Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of billboard owner Alfred Hamilto on the grounds of free speech.
According to local historian Feliks Banel, the now-infamous owner originally erected the sign out of spite.
"He had a turkey farm, and they put Interstate 5 through, and he got compensated for the land, but not to the degree that he wanted to because it was a public eminent domain project, and so he puts up this sign and starts making comments," said Banel. "It became literally a lightning rod for controversy."
After decades of changing the messaging, Hamilton passed away in 2004.
"His family members have sort of kept up the tradition, but nowhere to the degree that Mr. Hamilton did," said Banel.
Local perspective:
In 2020, efforts to remove the billboard intensified. There was a public petition signed by more than 75,000 people and then an arson attempt too.
This week, after news broke that the tribe had purchased the property, false rumors spread online that the messaging on the billboard had already been changed.
FOX 13 Seattle traveled in-person to the sign location and determined the images and claims were fake. The signage has not changed in years. FOX 13 also contacted the Chehalis Tribe for comment but has not heard back.
The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter Lauren Donovan.
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