When the defunct “Welcome to Wyoming” signs went up for auction, Jackson real estate agent Sam Haack welcomed the opportunity to buy one.
Haack paid $9,754.12 for one of the “Welcome to Wyoming” signs auctioned off by the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) on the website Public Surplus. The signs were put up for auction after they were removed and replaced by the new signs that will greet highway travelers for the next eight years or more.
“I was dead set on getting one of these,” Haack told Cowboy State Daily. “I think I got a little too emotionally attached, but I’m so nostalgic for these sign designs. I probably paid more than I should have, but it was totally worth it.”
WYDOT was pleased with the outcome. The agency made more than $100,000 from the public auction, which will all be invested back into maintaining Wyoming's roads and highways.
"The total sales for retired welcome signs in 2025 came to $107,972.00 for 21 signs," said WYDOT spokesman Doug McGee. "Those funds will go back on the roads for repair and maintenance.”
Sign Sale
WYDOT put about 30 old signs up for auction on Public Surplus. Winning bids ranged from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the size and splendor of each sign.
Haack knew he was going for one of “the big seven” — the seven large signs at the major entry points along the Wyoming state line.
“I originally went for the one on the western side of the Wyoming-Idaho line between Wilson and Victor,” he said. “That was the closest sign to me, and it was 90% covered with stickers. But someone outbid me and paid over $10,000 for that one.”
After a “furious bidding war,” Haack ultimately purchased the sign that stood in Niobrara County, just south of the Black Hills along U.S. Highway 18 near the South Dakota state line. He had to swing down to Cheyenne to get his sign back to his home in Jackson.
“I’m already a collector of art and vintage memorabilia, specifically from Wyoming and Jackson Hole,” he said. “Eclectic things like Jackson Hole postcards and vintage clothing from Teton Village, but all in the theme of Wyoming. The history buff in me didn’t feel too bad about paying that much for the sign.”
Stickers And One Shot
Haack’s sign preserves a lot of personality and history. It has a smattering of stickers that give some insight into who passed by during the seven years it stood on the Wyoming-South Dakota state line.
“There’s a very diverse number of stickers,” he said. “Political stickers, motorcycle clubs, personal apparel brands, things like that. People say I should do a sticker tour on social media, and others have messaged telling me which sticker they left on that sign.”
The diversity of stickers was part of the sign’s aesthetic appeal to Haack and the many others who wanted to acquire it. That’s why Haack plans to leave the stickers as they are.
But what could be more Wyoming than a giant bullet hole? Fortunately, Haack has one of those, too.
“There’s one big bullet hole right in the middle,” he said. “Some of the other signs were very defaced with a full spectrum of bullet holes and shotgun pellets. I got away with just a single bullet through mine.”
Dollar Signs
The nostalgia for the outgoing signs was a financial windfall for WYDOT. In 2017, when the last batch of “Welcome to Wyoming” signs were sold at auction, WYDOT earned around $33,000.
“The most recent round of ‘Welcome to Wyoming’ sign sales garnered $36,400.03 total for the seven signs,” McGee said. “We made more money than the signs cost to make."
It might be a while before there’s another WYDOT sign auction. McGee said the new “Welcome to Wyoming” signs were designed to have more longevity than previous signs and are no longer following the precedent set by the state’s license plates.
“Just like a lot of our work, as materials improve, longevity comes along with that,” he said. “The new signs are made of materials that are cheaper and more flexible than the old materials, and they show a lot of potential for the durability of future signs.”
Personal Preference
The reaction to the new “Welcome to Wyoming” signs has been mixed, especially compared to the outgoing signs. Haack said that’s partly what inspired him to acquire one of them.
“There's been some controversy around the new design,” he said. “Everyone’s hating on the new design in the comments of my Instagram and TikTok videos. I don’t know the process they used to design them, but I wish they had asked for public input. If we understand the process, maybe we can improve it in the future.”
To that end, Haack doesn’t believe he’ll be inspired to enter another furious bidding war when the latest signs go up for auction.
“I’m not really interested in collecting this version whenever they change it,” he said. “I sent a direct message to Governor Gordon on Instagram just to say there are a lot of people who hate this new sign design. Haven’t gotten a response yet.”
WYDOT is aware of but unfazed by the reaction to the new signs. McGee believes the sentiment will be different when new becomes old, and the current “Welcome to Wyoming” signs pass into the realm of nostalgia.
“In 23 years, I've never put up a sign that nobody’s complained about,” he said. “The new signs are very legible at highway speeds, and if you're stopping to pose under or near the sign, you get a little postcard of Wyoming to go with your photograph.”
High Visibility
Haack knew what he would do with his “Welcome to Wyoming” sign before he bought it. It will be somewhere anyone can see it, but not necessarily by zooming past a physical location.
“It’s going to be the backdrop of the podcast studio in the basement of my office,” he said. “It’ll be in the background of all my Zoom meetings and a conversation starter for my podcast.
Haack hosts “The Jackson Hole Podcast,” a variety show" about culture, real estate, skiing, and everything else in the shadows of the Tetons. He’s only released one episode so far, but he plans to record more installments in which he’ll interview Jackson residents in front of his “Welcome to Wyoming” sign.
“I’ll bring on people who live in Jackson and the adjacent areas to talk about various topics, whether it's affordable housing projects or culture. I hope it’ll add value to anyone from an entertainment perspective, but also let my real estate clients know what’s going on in the area.”
Haack knows someone else who acquired one of the big seven “Welcome to Wyoming” signs at the WYDOT auction. One of his real estate clients in Jackson got one of the signs, and they’ve decided to do something more traditional with theirs.
“They're going to put it in their yard and have an unveiling part once it’s up,” he said. “They’ll have a sheet over it and tear it off after inviting all the neighbors and friends over. It’ll be a yard ornament for their home, and they’re really happy with it.”
Haack said he hopes the “Welcome to Wyoming” sign will be more than a cool backdrop for his podcast. It’s a visual image inviting people to engage with Jackson beyond whatever assumptions and preconceptions they have about Jackson and Teton County.
“Jackson is a spectacle of a place,” he said. “Everyone has strong feelings about it, positive or negative. The more information that can be out there, the more people can understand it, however they see fit. The sign will be a pretty cool backdrop for those discussions.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
