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.
There have been four iterations of the billboard. The first sign was erected in the 1960s and was used originally to display the right-wing political opinions of its owner, Alfred Hamilton. The tradition continued with the following billboards, two of which were rebuilt or moved due to legal issues with Washington state in the 1970s. The current billboard was erected in 1996.
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 and geography The Uncle Sam billboard is located beside the northbound lanes of Interstate 5 (I-5), near the Rush Road, Exit 72 onramp, south of Chehalis, Washington and near the northern city limits of Napavine. The sign is situated on a commercial parcel measured at .
The billboards can be seen from the air and from various roads in the area, as well as viewed from both directions on I-5. Motorists on the interstate have been called a "captive audience", as congestion often causes traffic jams between Seattle and Portland, Oregon, both generally considered politically liberal cities.
The current sign contains two billboards in a V-shaped arrangement and measures and features a large depiction of Uncle Sam on both sides. The image of Uncle Sam, approximately tall, is either described as a drawing, painting, or as a cut-out. Messages have been historically noted to always have been in full, capital lettering.
The Uncle Sam billboard, including its precursors, contained mostly conservative messages mentioning various subjects, such as abortion, big government, and homosexuality, and often included statements regarding local, state, and geopolitical affairs. Opposition to gun control and the Democratic Party also garnered repeated statements. During Alfred Hamilton's lifetime, messages were noted to be changed after a few weeks; in the year leading up to the 1995 sale, billboard messages were changed once per month.
History Alfred Hamilton Alfred Hamilton was born on March 31, 1920 and was raised in Chehalis, Washington. A large man, possibly as tall as 6'4", he was described as "physically imposing" and the "kind of man you wouldn't want to mess with". He attended Washington State University but chose to leave the school before he graduated to avoid being drafted into military service during World War II. He began farming and married Ruth Knoles in 1942. The Hamilton's purchased what became known as the Hamilton Farm in 1945. The couple had five children.
Hamilton initially raised sheep; switching to turkeys where he produced up to 30,000 per year. He helped develop a breed of turkey that was sold to various hotels and restaurants between Portland and Seattle. He inherited property from his father near Napavine, Washington and began investing in real estate and the stock market; he was noted to have done "very well" with his investing habits.
Alfred died on November 9, 2004 at his home in Curtis, Washington after having been diagnosed with cancer and Parkinson's disease in his last few years. Ruth died previously in 2001.
First billboard, 1960s The Hamilton farm was bisected by Interstate 5 (I-5) during construction of the highway through Lewis County, Washington during the 1950s and 1960s. Alfred Hamilton believed compensation for his lost property was low. He began leasing land on his farm near the highway in the early 1960s for billboard use but the attempts were stopped due to Washington state's voluntary compliance with the Highway Beautification Act of 1965. In opposition, and possibly as a means of protecting a source of income, Hamilton built his own billboard; the sign could only be viewed by northbound travelers on the interstate.
The early version contained advertising for his turkey business and a statement that billboards were also not allowed in Russia. Washington state filed an immediate nuisance lawsuit to have the sign removed; the state lost. The billboard received its first known newspaper account as a front page photo and caption in the November 24, 1967, edition of The Chronicle, a local publication based out of Centralia.
Hamilton continued posting his political and social views on the billboard; the statements were noted to promote Hamilton's "archconservative views in big block letters".
Second billboard, 1968 Hamilton's second billboard was constructed on his non-farm parcel located east of the highway in 1968. The sign was tall and built in a V-shaped arrangement, allowing drivers travelling in both directions to view the billboard. A drawing of Uncle Sam was added and block lettering used in his message's were recorded to be high. The advertisements for the farm was noted to be in "far smaller print".
The feature became known as the "Uncle Sam billboard", but also given monikers such as the "Hamilton Farms sign" or simply as the "Hamilton sign". The feature was meant to “advertise the [Hamilton's] agricultural products”, usually in small type, and either mentioned the business as "Hamilton Farms" or the registered brand name of his livestock, "Hamilton's 7+". By 1974, the sign advertised his business as "Hamilton's Turkeys".
The state filed a lawsuit against Hamilton in 1971 believing that the billboard violated Washington state's Scenic Vistas Act of 1971. During the years-long lawsuit, messages were updated approximately every few weeks. Due to the billboard's placement on non-farm land, Hamilton settled with the state in January 1974 and agreed to remove the sign by August. The agreement required Washington state to cover the cost for the removal; the state also paid Hamilton $162,500 for the loss of property due to the construction of the highway.
Hamilton admitted that the billboard, by June 1974, was "in need of repair and repainting" and he was giving "serious consideration" as to whether to replace or rebuild the sign. On August 2, 1974, the billboard was reported to be in the process of being removed.
Third billboard, 1974 By October, Hamilton began constructing a new billboard with lighting near his barn on the farmland parcel west of the interstate; the lighted billboard was back to being "operational" on December 9, 1974.
The lawsuit was revived in June 1975 in opposition to the third version of Hamilton's billboard. Citing violations of the Scenic Vista Act, the case was filed by State Attorney General Slade Gorton who expressed "amazement and disappointment" that Hamilton had "simply moved" the billboard to the other side of the highway. Despite a petition delivered to Gorton, signed by approximately 20,000 people in support of Hamilton and the billboard, a two-day trial was held at the Lewis County Superior Court in November 1977; Hamilton was a witness on the first day. In the leadup to the trial, Gorton stated that the lawsuit was not about Hamilton's messages but was entirely focused on adherence to federal and state billboard laws passed since the 1960s.
The case was ruled in Hamilton's favor; the jury decision cited the location of the new sign, as well as its primary use as advertising for Hamilton's business rather than as a promotion of his views. The state appealed but the Washington State Court of Appeals affirmed the original decision in December 1979. The appeals court noted that the sign's use to advertise Hamilton's business was in accordance with the Scenic Vistas Act. The court also noted the Uncle Sam artwork was an "effective tool in drawing attention to the billboard". A petition to appeal was denied by the Washington Supreme Court in April 1980.
Beginning in 1983, Alfred and Ruth took a nine-year travel around the world by sailboat, fishing and living for a time on the vessel around Alaska. His children, grandchildren, and unnamed friends began managing the billboards and its messaging, continuing to do so after Hamilton's death in 2004.
Fourth billboard, 1996 In October 1995, announcements were published stating that Hamilton sold his farm to National Frozen Foods of Chehalis for $750,000; as part of the sale, the billboard was required to be removed by August the next year. By April 1996, rumors began circulating that Hamilton was preparing to move the billboard and reestablish the landmark. In response, Hamilton stated, "You'll have to wait and find out". The erection of the billboard was reported to have begun by July at its current site just inside the Napavine city limits, immediately east of the interstate.
In 2003, the Uncle Sam billboard was calculated to have been viewed by approximately 50,000 vehicles traveling daily on the interstate; by 2016, an estimated 22.5 million vehicles passed by the billboard annually. An estimation in 2017 listed that the landmark had been viewed approximately 1.3 billion times during the overall 50-year history of Hamilton's billboards.
The billboard once had websites dedicated to the sign, either for or against the messages; one site was known as "The Fascist Farmer Strikes Again". A dedicated Twitter account for the sign was created while under Hamilton family ownership.
After Alfred's death, 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."
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, 2025
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.