What’s old is new again.
At least in the case of a historic sign that once hung just off the Humboldt square.
The neon billboard for the Humboldt Union newspaper, which simply said “UNION,” was a fixture of town for decades, but had found its way in recent years to the local historical museum complex.
Josh Works, who serves on the museum board, said he had rediscovered the sign by accident.
“It was just sort of leaning up against the building,” he recalled, “and it had a piece of fence over it, covered with leaves.”
“I’m sure somebody knew that it was there, but it was sort of a surprise to find it.”
“It was exciting, but also disappointing to see the state that it was in,” added Works, “sinking into the ground, filled with water and rusting out the bottom.”
DESPITE its disrepair, Works knew it could be of use.
One of the projects he’s involved in includes the new Union Works Brewing Company, currently under construction in Humboldt.
Given the brewery’s coincidental name, it seemed a stroke of fate to stumble upon the newspaper’s sign.
“Our ultimate goal is to put it on the side of the building out over the beer garden,” Works said. “That way, on Ninth Street you can see it from both directions.”
“The board was amenable,” he noted, and so it was time to start figuring out how to make the sign burn bright once more.
It would remain the property of the museum, but become “sort of an off-site installation.”
“It should be mutually beneficial,” observed Works, “since it reinforces our brand at the brewery but also can drive some attention to the historical society and their good will to put it on loan.”
IN ORDER to reignite the historic sign, Works spoke with Steinmetz Neon LLC in Kansas City, who is also working on several other signs around Humboldt.
