`Uncle Sam' Packing Up His I-5 Billboard

CENTRALIA - It's the end of an era. The Uncle Sam billboard that for years has trumpeted Al Hamilton's conservative views to travelers on Interstate 5 will soon be just a memory.

Hamilton has sold his 130 acres between Centralia and Chehalis to National Frozen Foods Corp. of Chehalis. He has a year from the Aug. 30 sale date to remove his possessions - the sign, two houses, farm buildings and equipment, said National's plant manager, Tom Schultz.

The land had been in the Hamilton family since 1945.

Hamilton, who owns other land in the area, has declined to say what his plans are for the sign. He and his wife now live in Alaska.

The billboard has targeted welfare, big government, homosexuals and abortion. The message was changed weekly for years, though the frequency has diminished in the past year to about once a month.

Someone once tried to burn it down, and Hamilton told The Oregonian newspaper in 1985 that he'd been threatened over it. He also said response to the sign had been 95 percent positive.