200-ish First St.

This lovely old firehouse (or maybe carriage building?) hides in plain sight next door to 200 First Street. I was totally surprised when I realized that this lovely structure is the back of Jordan's Lounge on Newark Avenue. For real. I also can't believe that it houses the closed-looking Miss Saigon Vietnamese establishment. I just can't believe it.

143 Columbus Drive

I took a photo of this message to passersby months ago, and was sad to notice that it was recently painted over.

When it comes to painting over graffiti, I'd much rather see the ubiquitous "BSET" tags painted over.

472 Jersey Avenue

173 Newark Avenue

173 Newark Avenue

Former Retail Store

The loud sign for a children's clothing store overpowers the lovely details of this storefront. I walked by this building for years before I noticed it, hiding in plain sight on Newark Avenue.

139 Newark Avenue

139 Newark Avenue

Under Construction (maybe restoration?)

The rear of the building, facing Columbus Drive, is part of a large Jersey City-themed mural. The tallest part of the building was once a vibrant sky blue, hovering over the scenes of the Hudson River and Statue of Liberty below.

On a recent walk, I noticed a window-washing rig hanging against the painted blue sky. The day was clear and bright, and the sky was the perfect color to make the painted blue wall almost disappear.

I've noticed this mural hundreds of times. Somehow, I never saw the painted ads for a corset company above the mural until I looked through a camera lens. I like that 19th-century Jersey City was the kind of place where a 20 foot tall underwear ad fit right in on a major thoroughfare.

265 Grove Street

265 Grove St.

La Nueva Isla Market

Jersey City is chock-full of great hand-painted grocery store signs. The signs at Nueva Isla Market on Grove Street are in great shape and have a lot more style than some generic computer-printed awning. The colors, textures, and letter styles used really make this place stand out from its neighbors. The lettering has quite strong shadows, which are particularly eye-catching in bright sunlight.

352 Grove Street

352 Grove St.

La Conga Supermarket

La Conga has one of downtown's best storefronts-- funky and dated, but still well-maintained and (hopefully) thriving. The printed awning text is full of character, and the handpainted signs above reveal a lot about the Grove Street of decades past. I especially like that three of the five grocery items on the front of their store are animals depicted in perfect, living barnyard form. Perhaps the signage is a non-verbal advertisement for their fresh meats. Maybe a warning to vegetarians?