Castroville’s historic Merritt Street sign is about to be replaced.

For as long as anyone can remember, a sign proclaiming Castroville as “The Artichoke Center of the World” has spanned Merritt Street on the main drag of the small North County agricultural town.

Records on when the sign was actually installed are spotty, says James Derbin, general manager of the Castroville Community Services District. It was for sure resurfaced in 2017 by the district.

Derbin, after estimating the sign originated in the 1950s, did some more digging. He found an article from the Castroville News reporting the sign was dedicated on June 25, 1931.

After 94 years, nearly to the date, the sign is headed into retirement – but its replacement will quickly follow.

In 2021, then-General Manager Eric Tynan told the Castroville Community Services District’s board of directors that the arch’s poles were rusting from the inside and needed to be replaced.

The district received a $500,000 grant from the state’s Clean California program for a new sign and arch, and contracted Prunedale-based Signs by Van to design and construct the sign.

An overnight closure of Merritt Street at Preston Street to install the new arch and sign is expected on Monday, June 30, although it may also happen on July 1 or July 2, according to Caltrans.

Construction on the new arch coincides with a major project that broke ground earlier in June on Merritt Street/Highway 183. Known as the Castroville Improvement Project, Caltrans’ $38 million project will, among other things, rehab the pavement, reconstruct sidewalks and add pedestrian crossing aids from Del Monte Avenue to the intersection of Highway 1.