'That's embarasing!' MnDOT tells Ogilvie, apologizing for misspelling city's name on highway signs

Quick, what's the proper way to spell the name of the Kanabec County town that's about halfway between Mora and Milaca?

If you said "O-G-I-L-V-I-E," consider yourself a better speller than the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The agency recently brought a little levity to the town of 388 people when it installed signs denoting the city limits — with a pretty big oops.

"Oglivie," read the signs, transposing an I with the L. The gaffe touched off some lively conversation on social media, and MnDOT joined in by poking fun at itself.

"Well, that's embarasing!" the agency wrote on its Facebook page. "Sorry about that - speling is hard. Weer working on replacement sings as we speek and will make sure its correct this time."

MnDOT spokeswoman Anne Meyer said she wasn't sure when the bungled signs went up on Hwys. 23 and 47. The online banter that started last week brought it to the agency's attention.

"We do make mistakes," Meyer said.

One commenter asked: "How much thyme will it take two replace?" To which MnDOT replied: "About 2 teaspoons for each sign and we're hoping to have them done by early next week."

As for the future of the misspelled signs, Lindsay Keen marked her post as "serious" when she asked MnDOT if she could have one of them.

To which the agency replied: "Maybe take it up with the Department of 'Corrections.' "

For the record, MnDOT makes its own signs — not prison inmates — and replacements with the correct spelling of Ogilvie were installed Thursday, Meyer said.

That brought some relief to Mayor Mark Nilson. He thanked MnDOT for taking care of it so quickly.

"Now social media can find something else to worry about," he said.

It wasn't the first MnDOT blunder to get widespread attention. In 2020, the contractor that rebuilt Interstate 35W between downtown Minneapolis and Crosstown Hwy. 62 installed six misspelled signs along the high occupancy toll lanes.

"2 or more persons per vehilce," read the signs, before they were replaced.