Once again, reflecting back to the earlier days of my family insurance agency, I refer to the days of the billboards beside the highways. As a kid in the late ’40s, a large 12′ x 14′ sign sat on the side of the road on Cemetery Corner here in East Andover. Back then, the corner was referred to as Dead Man’s Corner, Swamp Curve, and/or Cemetery Corner. My dad, Atherton W. Frost, erected the sign sometime in the ’30s. He rented the space from the landowner for two dollars a year. The sign said,  “Lose a minute, Save a life. A. W. Frost Agency, Franklin, NH, Phone # 280.”

Travelers coming east used this sign as a landmark when giving or getting driving instructions. When they saw the sign, they knew they were in East Andover on Highland Lake. The corner claimed many victims. Vehicles often didn’t make the curve and ended up either in the swamp on one side or the swamp on the other side. When they called for help, they would refer to the sign, and whoever was coming to their aid knew exactly where they were.

One time around Halloween, some young “gents” tore the sign down and put it into the swamp. The area police found the culprits, and they (and their parents) were instructed by the judge (in Franklin court) to repair the sign, repaint it and put it back up where it belonged. (The judge happened to be a good friend of A.W. who had taught the judge how to fly fish.)

In the early ’60s, the property upon which the sign stood was sold to a person from Long Island, NY. The new owner promptly instructed Mrs. Frost (my mom) to take the sign down. He said,“I didn’t move up here to look at a billboard.” So the sign was taken down. Many locals became upset about this, and they boycotted the little diner that the new owner had opened just down the road. A picture of the sign was in the local and state newspapers telling the story. But I guess that was what is known as “progress.” Many of the locals told the new owner he should perhaps move back to New York.

The young folks today don’t know about the sign, but there are still older folks who remember it.