Rain and grey skies to end my days of Kentucky shooting. I was thorough but there are lots of “[reshoot in sun]” notes my my master list.

This is Old Joe Clark who performed for over 50 years at the Barn Dance in Mt. Vernon:

These horses at the Kentucky State University in Frankfort are replicas of the ones inside St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice Italy:

This sculpture of Man O’War is installed on top of his grave at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington:

This Wildcat, the mascot of the University of Kentucky, is installed in Lexington:

This Dixie Cup water tower in Lexington has gotten pretty rusty since Georgia-Pacific has been operating on the property:

The Old Taylor Distillery in Frankfort was built in 1887. It shut down in 1972 and was nearly demolished before being renovated for the Castle & Key Distillery in 2018:

This former Shell station from 1945 in Lexington was adapted in 2012 for this restaurant:

This former Texaco in Lexington now houses Missy’s Pies (and I can attest to the fact that the pies are incredible):

This theatre is also in Lexington:

This midcentury courthouse addition is in Frankfort:

The Southland Lanes from 1960 are also in Lexington:

A sideview of the parabolic roof at Paul Miller Ford in Lexington:

There are two “skinny M” McDonald’s signs in Lexington. Both buildings have had modern makeovers:

Burgers Shakes in Lexington used to put their burger price in the oval in the middle of the sign:

And let’s close with this two-fer at the Grigg’s Motel in Richmond. The pole sign is in rough shape:

and the Neo-Lectra has been missing a spike for at least 20 years:

The next post, I’ll begin sharing stuff from Tennessee.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

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This Putt-Putt Fun Center in Louisville is from 1970. While these old PP courses are getting scarce, when they do have animal statues, they usually have elephants, zebras, and giraffes. But these turtles are rarer:

Even more rare — in fact the only courses I’ve ever seen with these: score tables with ashtrays (blurry photo but they read “Putt Putt”):

This giant abacus is in Goshen at St. Francis Elementary School:

This giant sausage made from propane tank (and stuffer) are in Simpsonville:

A midcentury library addition in downtown Louisville:

A former Sears, Roebuck & Co. store in Louisville:

A former Coca-Cola bottling plant in Shelbyville:

The Parkland Theatre in Cincinnati:

This former Standard Oil station is in Mt. Washington:

This Krispy Kreme is in Louisville. While the sign now has LED tubing and the building’s been remodeled a bit, I’m just glad to see it’s still there:

The sign at the long-closed Starway Drive-in theatre in Frankfort:

This sign is in Louisville:

This shopping center sign in Louisville now has plastic letters and a new clock:

And lastly, this business in Louisville is long gone but the sign remains:

One more day of Kentucky left before we move on to Tennessee.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

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This was a much sunnier day so I’ll drop a lot of photos in this post to make up for the last one.

This is Leo the Lion from the 1800s — in West Chester, OH:

Secretariat in Paris, KY where he was a retired stud horse and buried there:

There are a few dinosaurs in front of this farm house in Wellington, KY. I think this is my favorite:

A very rare redheaded Frisch’s Big Boy statue — at the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati:

This Catrina Day of the Dead sculpture is at a Mexican restaurant in Winchester, KY:

Yes, Paris, KY has its own mini Eiffel Tower (like Paris TX, Paris, TN and elsewhere) — but this one at the visitor center is even mini-er:

This prefabricated gas station is in Cynthiana, KY:

This well-preserved Pure Oil gas station is in Paris, KY:

This former gas station in Corinth, KY was part of Fisher’s Camp:

The cabins and other buildings burned down in a fire but this vacant station hangs on. This shell sign is probably from the 1950s:

There were three of these round, folded plate buildings at rest areas on I-64 in Kentucky but this one in Winchester is the only one left:

This former Newberry department store is in Paris, KY:

This pole sign in Cincinnati surely had neon originally. There is also a roofline sign here which does have neon pins & balls:

This drive-in theatre in Winchester, KY has been closed since 2015:

The adapted Rich’s Jewelry sign in Covington, KY. Thank goodness the restaurant kept the very rare Gruen text and clock at the bottom:

Lastly, I have to include just a few signs from the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati — if you’ve never been and want to know what you’re missing — see these pages at my website: https://www.roadarch.com/signs/ohasm.html

This sign came from Amana, IA:

And here are a couple waiting in the wings — an opal glass ripple tin beauty:

And a very early channel letter sign with a beaded border:

More Kentucky coming soon!

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

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This was a really crummy weather day — no sun all day and some rain. So, low volume shooting and dreary photos. Day 14 wasn’t much better — but lots of sunny days to come though!

Let’s start with this sculpture of Vulcan in Ashland:

This National Guard building is in Carlisle (several in Kentucky with this same exact design):

This drive-in theatre in Mt. Sterling — still operating:

This closed theatre is in Portsmouth, OH:

This theatre is in Maysville:

The Opera House in Maysville:

This sign in Kenova, WV with patched neon tubing holes:

This sign in Portsmouth, OH — with LED tubing:

This rooftop restaurant sign is in Maysville, KY:

This sign in Maysville advertised for a restaurant — gently adapted for the Eat Gallery (art gallery) with just the modern panel added below:

A quick hi from that dreary day from three of my sidekicks. The old guy probably sleeping in the back:

More Kentucky coming up very soon!

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

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I’m doubling up for this two-day post since there was a lot of mountain driving (low volume shooting) and crummy weather.

This Colonel Sanders statue is in Corbin inside the Sanders Cafe & Museum:

Abraham Lincoln at the Middle Creek National Battlefield in Prestonsburg:

Holcomb’s Custard Stand in Isom:

This closed movie theatre in Columbia is tucked into an alleyway off the main square:

This theatre is in Russell Springs:

The Lane Theatre in Williamsburg:

This former gas station is in Lawrenceburg:

A former Pure Oil gas station in Prestonsburg:

A former Tastee-Freez in Burkesville:

I believe this place in Harrodsburg has been closed and for sale for a while — but this sign remains:

This roller rink is in Corbin:

This sign in Somerset was such a beauty — StreetView 2019…:

… but by 2025 StreetView, the neon had been removed and it was cheaply covered up for the Makers Mill furniture/crafts/gift shop:

… and now it’s been adapted again for this bar inside Makers Mill:

This sign is in Corbin:

A “Happy Bear” sign in Corbin – more about these signs at my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/signs/bear.html

This sign is in Jamestown:

And this one is in Burkesville:

More Kentucky coming up soon!

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Just getting going on the Kentucky stuff — about another 7 days of posts to go.

“Big Mo,” the Mosasaur statue at Big Mike’s Gift Shop in Cave City, got a bright repaint last year:

The Cardinal Motel in Bowling Green was leveled by a tornado in 2021 but the statue survived. It didn’t even tip over! The owner considered it a sign and rebuilt the motel from scratch:

This “fluffy tail” (my type name) rooster statue has been installed at the Rooster Run General Store since it opened in Coxs Creek in 1967. The bib type are very rare:

This Sirloin Stockade type bull (signboard and halter) has been at a Lotto store in Franklin since at least 2008. The statues used at Sirloin Stockade didn’t have horns this may have been a later modification:

This “Fuzzy Bull” (my type name) with horns and no signboard on its sides has been at the Leachman car dealership in Bowling Green since 2006. I don’t know where “Cadillac Jack” (a naming contest earlier this year) was before that:

Big Red is the mascot for Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. This sculpture is from 2014:

This giant cauldron of burgoo (a type of stew) is installed at Moon Lite BBQ in Owensboro. It was hit by a car a few years ago but, thankfully, it was restored (and moved behind the restaurant away from traffic):

This space capsule is installed in Franklin. It was created by welding students at the local high school (along with a giant butter knife and fork):

This former windmill in Griderville was used as a Standard Oil gas station office with a small restaurant building next door. The blades of the windmill have been gone since around 2013. Strangely, they were on the left of the windmill here but more recent photos, they were on that pole on the right:

This building in Bowling Green was built in the 1860s as the Potter Opera House:

It got this makeover in 1964 for the Bowling Green Bank & Trust – the height of modernity then and well-received:

But tastes change. Now that the City owns the building, it plans to return the facade to its original look. It’s a little scruffy now but since it’s right on the main square, I’m sure most of the town considers it an eyesore. I sure don’t! Replacing those black granite tiles and maybe powerblasting the concrete would be enough to get the building looking sharp again (and far cheaper than replicating the original facade) but concrete midcentury is not fashionable with many folks these days:

The former Century Christian Church in Owensboro from 1963:

An interior shot at the St. James Catholic Church in Elizabethtown:

The original sign at the original Wonder Whip location in Owensboro with much nicer, neon food:

Updated at some point to its current look. The burger and cone would look so much better painted, even badly, than these graphics:

The second location in Owensboro opened in 2025 with a new retro-style building and sign:

Smith Drug in Hodgenville opened around 1919 and is still operating! This sign is probably from the 1950s:

Lastly, the much less photographed sign at the Wigwam Village in Cave City. It was the second-built location in the chain with tee-pee shaped motel rooms:

More Kentucky coming up soon!

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

Let’s start with a giant sheaf of wheat in Hopkinsville:

I shot this statue at the Dempewolf Ford Lincoln Mercury dealership in Henderson in 2010:

By 2012, it had been replaced with this more human-like statue shown below. Then, in 2018, the dealership changed names and moved this statue back behind the building and a fence. I was able to get this shot on this trip through the chain link:

This chicken statue is at Mr. D’s restaurant in Henderson:

There are now six of these Big Twig tree creature sculptures in Lake Malone State Park in Dunmor:

The Everly Brothers and John Prine in Central City:

This tiny Ferrell’s Hamburgers restaurant opened in 1936 in Hopkinsville. Unfortunately, this great neon sign got clipped by a truck in 2023 (my photo 2010)…:

… and it was replaced with this one which has LED tubing and plastic letters:

This former gas station in Henderson now houses Rick’s Una Pizza. It has some similar features with Pure Oil cottage stations but I don’t think it was built as one:

This is Rhea Stadium in Russellville. This Art Deco entrance is flanked with the heads of six sports stars from the time:

The long-closed Capitol Theatre in Princeton has really fallen on hard times. At least the vitrolite facade is still there:

The Wonder Whip in Owensboro opened in 1955. There was a slightly different sign then:

and now:

This former Gulf station in Marion now houses Sugar Shop Donuts:

I believe this cleaners in Hopkinsville is still open. The sign is now missing the plastic shirt panel and one of the clock faces. My photo from 2010:

and now:

This neon diamond is on top of the otherwise-boring Turley Jewelers sign in Evansville, IN:

The Hungry Bear Pancake & Bar-B-Q House in Murray closed in 2022 but this sign remains. The restaurant opened in 1970 so this sign is probably from then:

This sign is at the now-closed PitStop Liquors with a pink elephant statue in Hopkinsville:

The owner of Victor’s Sandwiches in Murray passed away in 2024 and this business has been closed since then:

I’ll be back again soon with much more Kentucky.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This post covers the day spent in the northwest corner of Tennessee en route to Kentucky.

At the Tennessee/Kentucky border in Hazel, KY — representative frontiersmen from both states (Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett) and their hunting dogs:

A snowball-throwing polar bear serving as a mailbox holder in Jackson, TN. More about these statues at my website here: https://www.roadarch.com/critters/bearspolar2.html#Nash

This dog sculpture is in front of a vet’s office in Paris, TN:

A giant crab above the entrance of Red Hook Cajun Seafood in Jackson, TN:

This streamline former hospital/clinic is in Covington, TN:

The former Dr Pepper bottling plant in Jackson, TN…:

… and its 10-2-4 clock:

The former Greyhound bus station in Jackson, TN:

The Jackson-Madison County Library in Jackson, TN:

A former Sinclair gas station in Huntingdon, TN:

This theatre is in Huntingdon, TN:

This theatre is in McKenzie, TN:

Too cutesy for my website but I shot anyway — in Union City:

The Magic Wheels Skate Center is in Jackson, TN:

This sign is in Jackson, TN:

The billboard sign on the former Coca-Cola bottling plant in Covington, TN:

Although a modern chain, this is one of the few neon signs left — in Jackson, TN:

The next post will be the beginning of many from Kentucky. There will be plenty more Tennessee posts after that.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

If you are paying close attention to these posts and wondering what happened to Day 5… Well, there was a little “incident” during this trip where my camera card fell out of the slot of my laptop (hadn’t pushed it in yet). Before I noticed, my new young dog, Pivot, had chomped some nice dents into it. I sent the card off the next day to a data recovery place but they were unable to recover the photos. The process cost me $2600. I hadn’t read the fine print in the email about “no guarantee” so it was sort of a scam but anyhow… expensive lesson learned. I lost a very productive, full day of shooting in Dallas in the sun and blazing heat wave (my big van’s AC sucks despite full freon). Fortunately, I always back up my cards to my laptop each night so it was just that one day that went bye-bye. I’ll be back in Dallas for a painful 14-hour repeat of what was lost in a couple of years. Although I have been to Dallas many times, there’s always things I find out about between trips or things shot at wrong time of day that need reshooting.

Let’s start out in Dallas then with this cattle drive sculpture group right downtown:

This bull is in Royce City, TX:

This frog in Hot Springs, AR had been installed in front of a closed restaurant for many years. I drove by and was sad to see him gone this time. But about 20 mins. later I was very happy to see that he had at new home just to the north at Dame Fortune’s Cottage Court. He originally emitted a stream of water from his mouth into a little pond so I guess they’ve dispensed with that feature. But it looks like they are fixing him up:

Fouke, AR is proud of their local legend and holds an annual festival. This guy is on the facade of this convenience store which sells souvenirs:

This sculpture of the Grand Master H.U. Lee is installed in front of the ATA martial arts headquarters in Little Rock, AR:

This Taco Bell statue is at Driven Towing & Recovery in Hot Springs, AR along with many other statues. This statue did not have a sombrero when the owner bought it. Mark Cline was able to create one:

Also at Driven Towing is this guy which would have originally held flags or signs in his hands. His arms were motorized to move up and down:

This giant rooftop milk carton is in Batesville, AR at a food products distribution company:

This Art Deco courthouse is in Hope, AR:

This Art Deco Masonic Temple is in Benton, AR:

This midcentury modern Farmers Electric building in Newport, AR…

… The business also has a Willie Wiredhand sign. More about Willie (and Reddy Kilowatt) at my website here: https://www.roadarch.com/sca/reddy.html

This midcentury Arkansas Department of Health building is in Little Rock, AR:

The Temple Israel in Jonesboro, AR is from 1960:

The former Pulaski Federal Savings & Loan in North Little Rock, AR…”

… still has coins embedded in the doors:

This crusty sign is in Texarkana, TX:

This Arby’s hat sign is in Benton, AR:

This sign is in Little Rock:

This one is in Hot Springs:

Another sign in Hot Springs — the tree and streetlight make shooting this one difficult:

And lastly — this Elks sign is in North Little Rock:

With the next post, I’ll be moving on to the focus of this trip: Tennessee and Kentucky.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

The Evans Vacuum location in River Oaks used to have two giant vacuums in the parking lot. They were about 10 feet tall. That store and the vacuums are gone now. Here’s a photo I took of one of them back in 2006:

But there are still three locations that have them hanging inside the stores. Here’s a photo I took on this trip at the Fort Worth location:

This restored Texaco is in Fort Worth:

The midcentury former Lone Star Gas Company in Abilene:

The former Dr Pepper bottling plant in Fort Worth – restored in 2024 with the 10-2-4 clock face:

This former First National Bank in Mineral Wells — now the Palo Pinto County Annex:

Farrington Field in Fort Worth:

The Dixie Pig in Abilene was established in 1931. This sign is probably 1960s or 1970s:

The restaurant moved to this building in 1941:

and the rounded part of the building is still there:

A very rare “Go Gulf” sign in Clyde. The Gulf letters have been missing since at least 2008. These letters and arrows are way, WAY up on poles so I assume this sign is at its original location next to I-20.

The sign (and missing station) would have looked like the vintage image below. I guess some of these signs were installed on the roof while others were on their own poles:

The long-abandoned restaurant/motel complex and this sign in Ranger were restored in 2025.

The Lone Star Chicken Inn building now houses Gulf Burgers — more info and signs at my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/signs/tx11.html#Ranger

One of the two former/repurposed Montgomery Ward signs in Fort Worth:

This shopping center sign is in Fort Worth:

This florist is in Abilene:

This sign in Fort Worth was restored in 2022:

This Superior Outdoor Display clock sign in Fort Worth is missing the panel on the other side. Buy, hey, one panel is better than none! I believe the OPEN bulb part of the sign was also produced by Superior. More about these signs at my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/sca/clocks.html#City

This sign in Weatherford was restored in 2023:

The D&W Underground event space in Abilene is chock full of vintage signs including the Federal Electric bulb signs and this opal glass Buick sign. I did what I could shooting through the windows but I’ve GOT to get back there sometime with an appointment to get inside. More info and photos at my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/signs/tx.html#Coke

Also at the D&W — this Reddy Kilowatt sign. More about these signs at my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/sca/reddy.html

Lastly, this modern, animated neon and bulb sign in front of the Hotel Drover in Fort Worth was created by Evan Voyles/Neon Jungle:

Some more Texas photos coming in the next post – and then moving on to Arkansas.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

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