Was The Decatur on the Famous M.A.S.H. Signpost Decatur Michigan?
Was one of the most popular TV's shows of the 70's giving a little nod to a tiny Michigan village?
Growing up in Decatur, Michigan I was told by many that someone from my tiny town had worked on the set of M.A.S.H. That is how they explained the "Decatur 9,412 MI" on the signpost.
If you're unfamiliar with the signpost from M.A.S.H. you can click here to see it. (Due to copy-write laws I'm unable to use the photo.
Here are the locations listed on that map:
- Boston
- Seoul – 34 miles, 54 kilometers
- Coney Island – 7033 miles
- San Francisco – 5426 kilometers
- Tokyo – 259 miles, 414 kilometers
- Burbank – 5610 miles
- Death Valley – 6116 miles
- Indianapolis – 6779 miles
- Toledo – 6418
- Decatur – 9412 miles
- Seoul – 34 miles, 54 kilometers
- Honolulu – 4548 miles
I thought it would be easy to figure out which Decatur it is by the distance. It turns out the distances for each city on the sign is incorrect. So, that's a dead end. People from Decatur, George and Decatur, Illinois claim it as theirs. There are 17 cities named Decatur in the United States. Were the people from my hometown just doing the same thing?
The only person from Michigan in the cast was Harry Morgan who graduated from Muskegon High School in 1933 according to Wikipedia.
At this point, I can't find any evidence that the Decatur on that sign isn't my hometown in Southwest Michigan. I'm claiming it as ours until someone show's me proof otherwise.
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