Hillside letters

Hillside letters form an important part of the western cultural landscape, as they function as symbols of school pride and civic identity.

[citation needed] Letters have also been erected to celebrate winning teams, to commemorate the building of high schools, in memory of local community members, and as Boy Scout projects.

[citation needed] This 30 foot letter "L" at about the 2000 ft level on Mt Ball, part of the West Maui Mountains was created by students of Lahainaluna High School by clearing the plants and weeds and adding lime to prevent regrowth.

The UC Berkeley classes of 1907 and 1908 proposed this project as a means of ending the rivalry and the unruly physical encounters that had become a part of their annual rush each spring.

[4] In 1906, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, proposed and surveyed the first three-lettered hillside emblem BYU, but reduced it to the single letter Y after realizing the amount of labor involved.

A few letters may be found east of these states, such as the Platte Mound M in Platteville, Wisconsin and a C (for Columbia University) along the Harlem River in New York City.

When the 76-year-old G in Moab, Utah, disappeared under a coat of reddish brown paint, thought to be applied by some environmentally motivated newcomers to town, there was not only an immediate outcry from the community, but a reward to find the culprits.

The ubiquity of these letters in the rural West is evidenced by the appearance in the movie Cars (2006) of an "RS" overlooking the fictional Arizona town of Radiator Springs.