On Tuesday I was walking down Cambridge Street in the West End when I stumbled across a peculiar piece of public art. Well, perhaps not public in the contemporary sense but it involved a surface, paint, and a steady hand for sketching and brushing. So yeah, art.

I couldn’t help but share what I found on Twitter and to my surprise these types of faded works are actually a thing. They’re called ‘ghost signs’ and are some of Boston’s best hidden gems.

As a lover of local history with a growing affinity for public art, I simply can’t wait to go out and explore the city to find more ghost signs. Whether they’re advertisements of yore or retro company monikers, these signs are relics of Boston’s past and of a right ought to be preserved.

In areas like Fort Point, a former industrial hot zone riddled with old mill buildings and brick warehouses that’s become a haven for aspiring artists, this type of work is clearly evident.

But you won’t just find them downtown. They’re all over the place. The blog Ghost Signs Boston aggregated photos of them for a little while – it hasn’t been updated since 2011 – and it shows signs in Boston neighborhoods from Roxbury to the North End and everywhere in between.

Have you seen an awesome ghost sign recently? Send us a snapshot of your favorites.

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