Earlier this month, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation announced it had purchased the property with the Uncle Sam Billboard just off of Exit 72 on Interstate 5.
Chehalis Tribal Director of Government and Public Relations Jeff Warnke told The Seattle Times the tribe didn’t have any “serious” idea about the sign’s future, but did intend to take down the politically-charged right-wing rhetoric, which tens of thousands of I-5 commuters drove by on a daily basis.
While Uncle Sam still stares at those commuters as they drive by, as of Thursday, June 19, the last messages to be displayed on the billboard had finally been removed.
Last changed in 2021, the final messages were “How many Americans will we leave behind in Ukraine” to southbound I-5 commuters, and “No one died in WW2 so you could show papers to buy food” to northbound drivers.
The Chronicle has reached out to the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation to see if it has come up with any new plans for the billboard, but has yet to receive a response.
While the Chehalis Tribe did purchase the Uncle Sam sign’s property from Hamilton Corner LLC for $2.5 million, it did not purchase the adjacent 30.82-acre lot that the family is also selling and is also home to many businesses.
Businesses on this lot include Ramblin Jack’s Rib Eye, Subway and Burger King restaurants, the Flyways Rush Road Chevron and Napavine Travel Plaza truck stop and Avenue Espresso Rush Road, all with current leases.
According to Chehalis RE/MAX real estate associate Israel Jimenez, the family real estate agent, a sale on that property hasn’t been finalized but is “under contract now.”
Located at 1336 Rush Road, the property’s assessed value on the Lewis County Parcels website was $9,182,800, and the asking price was $13 million.
Hamilton Corner LLC is still under the ownership of the Hamilton family, descendants of Chehalis turkey and cattle rancher Alfred Hamilton — who originally put up the Uncle Sam billboard in the 1960s and began putting conservative-leaning and sometimes conspiratorial messages on it throughout the rest of his life until his death in 2004 at the age of 84.
Messages included right-wing talking points on abortion, taxation, gun control, LGBTQ+ issues, Russian aggression and more.
