Mountain Monograms

presents:


Someone once asked me, "What is it with these Arizona towns*, putting huge letters on mountains?"

My answer was, "Well, you see, it's the first initial of the name of the town nearest the mountain." This, evidently, was not the answer that was desired. What she was really asking was: WHY DO THEY DO IT?

I do not know that answer. I would like to know it. Having grown up in a tiny desert town with a C on the mountain, I'd accepted it as normal behavior to put town initials on mountains. Can someone really smart tell me how this behavior started?

January, 2002: And now we know...

Probably this practice will be stamped out before long and it'll be a sad day when it is.

(* It isn't just Arizona towns, of course.)

       


Mountain Monogram update log



Want to contribute a Mountain Monogram? Contact the Mountain Monogram Project.

Mountain Monogram Recent Updates
28dec04 Has it really been a year and a half since I updated? Holy horsemeat. I have a huge backlog of Mountain Monogram material, which I've been putting off adding until I can get this stuff databased. Until then, here's a nighttime Mountain Monogram from Roocifer.
06jul03 Y Mountain Monogram webcam
24jan03 Kansas State Univ (KS)
24jan03 Reedley (CA)
24jan03 Sanger (CA)
06dec02 Carlin (NV)
06dec02 Elko (NV)
06dec02 Update: Hespeler Happy Face (Canada)
06dec02 Update: Tempe Mt. Monogram in happier days
06dec02 Lahaina (our first Hawaiian Mountain Monogram)
29nov02 Hespeler Happy Face (Canada)
29nov02 Murrysville Tree Sign (PA)
29nov02 McCamey, TX
14nov02 Mayer, AZ
07nov02 Rogue River, OR
27oct02 Boise, ID
26oct02 Galena HS, Reno, NV
26oct02 Lee Vining, CA
26oct02 Reno or Reed HS, NV
26oct02 U of Nevada, Reno
26oct02 UC Riverside, CA
26oct02 Sparks, NV
26oct02 Sanderson, TX
26oct02 U of Montana
26oct02 Moreno Valley, CA
26oct02 Save the P
26oct02 Bisbee Mt. Mono makes the papers
26oct02 More Mt. Monogram newspaper foolishness
06aug02 U of A (update)
05jul02 Narnia
05jul02 Satellite Mt. Monograms: Coolidge, Miami, Sunnyslope, Superior
05jul02 Update: U of Albuquerque
05jul02 Grand High School, Moab UT
05jul02 Juarez, Mexico
05jul02 Reformatted Mountain Messages
23jun02 University of Arizona (Update)
22jun02 Wace, CO
22jun02 Coolidge, AZ (Update)
16may02 Battle Mountain, NV
11feb02 Las Cruces, NM (update)
11feb02 Alamogordo, NM
11feb02 Hondo, NM
11feb02 Capitan, NM
11feb02 Magdalena, NM
11feb02 Socorro, NM
11feb02 Los Lunas, NM (update)
11feb02 Thunderbird H.S. (Phoenix, AZ) (update)
11feb02 Casa Grande, AZ (update)
11feb02 Santa Fe NM
11feb02 Wagon Mound NM
11feb02 Sanders AZ
11feb02 Las Vegas NM (Robertson H.S.)
11feb02 Las Vegas NM (Highlands Univ.)
11feb02 Las Vegas NM (W. L.V. H.S. Dons)
11feb02 Penasco NM
11feb02 Bernalillo, NM (update)
11feb02 Pojoaque NM (update)
11feb02 Truth or Consequences, NM
03jan02 Oroville, CA
02jan02 Zap, ND
29dec01 Wickenburg, AZ
29dec01 Kingman, AZ
29dec01 El Paso, TX -- FIVE: A, C, E, J, M
29dec01 Van Horn, TX
29dec01 Marathon, TX
29dec01 Sierra Blanca, TX
29dec01 Las Cruces, NM
29dec01 Alpine, TX (Sul Ross Univ.)
29dec01 Alpine, TX
29dec01 Costilla, NM
29dec01 Albuquerque, NM's "U"
29dec01 Bernalillo, NM
29dec01 Boulder City, NV
23nov01 Page, AZ
07nov01 Techachapi "90" GO
07nov01 U of Utah "U" news
23oct01 Eagar, AZ
23oct01 Nutrioso, AZ
23oct01 Clifton, AZ
23oct01 Lone Pine, CA
23oct01 ASU's "A" freakout
17oct01 San Luis Obispo, CA
06sep01 Venice, UT
06sep01 Junction, UT
06sep01 Parowan, UT
06sep01 Salina, UT
06sep01 Marysville, UT
06sep01 Moapa Valley, NV
06sep01 Hurricane, UT
06sep01 Green River, UT
06sep01 Escalante, UT
06sep01 Enterprise, UT
06sep01 Elsinore, UT
06sep01 St. George, UT
06sep01 Cedar City, UT
06sep01 Monroe, UT
06sep01 Tropic, UT
06sep01 Tropic, UT
24aug01 "J Cone" (W. of Albuquerque, NM)
13aug01 Clemenceau, AZ
13aug01 Joseph City, AZ
13aug01 Salome, AZ
13aug01 Holbrook, AZ
13aug01 Tucumcari update
15jul01 Thunderbird H.S. (Phoenix, AZ)
21jun01 Hotchkiss, CO
21jun01 Western State College (Gunnison, CO)
21jun01 Paonia, CO
11jun01 Tombstone, AZ
11jun01 Magnolia, MT
11jun01 Tintic Mining District (Eureka, UT)
11jun01 A closer "PHOENIX" shot
11jun01 Salida, CO
11jun01 Palomar College, San Marcos, CA
11jun01 Casa Grande, AZ
11jun01 WNMU (NM)
19apr01 Virgin, UT
17apr01 Kelso, WA
08jan01 Garibaldi, OR
28dec00 Golden, CO
17dec00 Banner, CA
01nov00 Intermountain Indian School, Brigham City, UT
31oct00 University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
29sep00 Kayenta, AZ
25sep00 Green River, Wyoming
27jun00 Lakeview, California
24jun00 Mojave Phone Booth
23jun00 Ray, Arizona
23jun00 Burroughs H.S. (Ridgecrest, California)
23jun00 Superior, Arizona
23jun00 The Largest Mountain Monogram?
23jun00 Phoenix (Mt. Message)
23jun00 Trona (California)
23jun00 Randsburg, California