This blog documents the photo-gathering roadtrips for RoadsideArchitecture.com (aka roadarch.com). That gigantic website covers buildings, signs & statues from the 1920s-1970s. The posts here offer about a dozen photos from each day of shooting. In winter, there are "news" posts about demolitions, removals, remodeling, restorations, etc.
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 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.
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
I believe this bull statue has been at this Lubbock, TX location since at least the 1970s when there was a Sirloin Stockade there:
This fiberglass Billy the Kid statue was installed in Glencoe, NM when the place was still Fox Cave (now Weed World):
These giant hands in Glencoe, NM which had been created by Mark Cline were painted with blood when the place became Weed World:
The sign at the Cactus Theatre in Lubbock, TX has been reworked a bit — more neon, channel letters, and a background with prickly pear cactus:
This gas station in Roswell, NM has been reworked with the local alien theme:
This former bank in Lubbock, TX now houses a tattoo studio:
A nice terrazzo entrance at the Wallace Theatre in Levelland, TX:
This drive-in theatre in Lubbock, TX was built in 2003:
The incredible midcentury modern Federal Building in Roswell, NM:
A detail from the Art Deco Lea County Courthouse in Lovington, NM:
This sign is from the former Koko Palace in Lubbock, TX:
This scaffold sign is in Ruidoso, NM:
The Valley Auto Glass sign in Roswell, NM would look great repainted:
The photos below are of signs on display at Cook’s Garage in Lubbock, TX. If you haven’t been, just add this place to your must-see bucket list. There are hundreds of sign inside and outside of the restaurant/concert venue/car show place. I posted about 100 photos to my website yesterday from this place here: https://www.roadarch.com/signs/txlubbock2.html
These initial states will go by really quick in these blog posts since the focus of this trip is on Kentucky and Tennessee. I usually have a few dozen planned stops with new stuff and reshoots to break up the monotony of the long interstate slogs on these trips.
Let’s start with this polka dot elephant in Las Cruces, NM at the Elephant Ranch bar:
This Santa statue in Hatch, NM might have come from the Shell Factory in North Fort Myers, FL which was auctioned off just before this statue turned up here:
A couple of mid-century modern churches: the First United Methodist Church in Deming, NM:
and the First Baptist Church in Alamogordo, NM:
The Big Tex BBQ in Willcox, AZ is located inside a former Pullman dining car:
Dot’s Diner is a Valentine diner located at the Shady Dell in Bisbee, AZ:
This pole sign stands next to the diner. I don’t know where it came from or if it originally read “DINER”:
This sign at the Elephant Ranch in Las Cruces, NM appears to be modern:
This bulb arrow is installed at Sparky’s Trading Post in Hatch, NM. These were produced by Superior Electrical Advertising in Long Beach, CA:
Some window signs at the same place:
This sign is now inside Sparky’s restaurant in Hatch, NM. It was originally installed in Springer, NM:
I’ll be back soon with more photos from New Mexico and moving on to Texas.
I’m back from my five-week summer trip. As I add each day’s photos to my website (roadarch.com), I’ll be chiming in with posts here — often, with photos not “worthy” of the website. I’m also posting some other photos to Flickr (see link bottom of this post). During the trip, I posted about a dozen photos each night that were taken that day to Instagram (link also bottom of this post). So, if you want a sampling/overview of what I shot during the trip, you might want to take a peek there. Keep in mind that I have over 4,000 photos to add to my site so the things I post here and to Flickr & Instragram are just a drop in the bucket.
Let’s start with this cute little playground in Encanto Park in Phoenix that I found by accident (rare) when I was running the dogs first thing in the morning. A sampling of the frogs and hatching turtles — very cute and realistic:
The giant wine bottle in Tucson was repainted since the last time I was there:
A gila monster reading a book in front of the Little Free Library in Tucson:
This cowboy in Tucson at Cummings Plumbing Heating and Cooling now holds a giant plumber’s wrench:
Giant aviator sunglasses inside the Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix:
This former bakery in Tucson now houses a cannabis shop:
Much better weather in Phoenix, so here’s a Deco detail shot from the Title & Trust Building:
This former gas station in Tucson is getting pretty cluttered at this point but its general original shape is still there:
The City Hall building in Tucson:
This modern neon sign in Phoenix is pretty nice — at Flower Child, a shopping center florist:
This sign in Phoenix must have advertised for a camper dealership or some such originally — now a used car dealership. Note my van, Gator, photobombing on the left. That’s often how I park using curb dips when there’s no way otherwise not to hog up a lane. I just about never park or turn off the engine all day since my stops are usually under 30 seconds:
The timing was all wrong to revisit the Ignite Sign Art Museum in Tucson on this trip — but I did grab a few photos from outside. Next time, I’m sure they will have recovered from the fire and there will be even more to see anyway:
This sign in Tucson was repainted and the neon restored since my last visit. The weather was sucky in Tucson on this trip and the tree needs some trimming but anyway:
A nice little neon extension arrow on the top of this one in Tucson that must have been sequentially lit originally:
One more test run to make sure the van and everything else is ready for the five-week summer trip. On the last day of the trip, the shifter on my steering column went: flopped around like a wet noodle instead of engaging in Drive or any gears. So, off to a Firestone in downtown Sacramento for $424 in repairs and then we headed home. A few days ago, I had my mechanic do the annual look-see full inspection to prevent delays & breakdowns during our trip. This is usually fairly uneventful but this time he found brakes, bearings, leaking water pump, etc. for $3400. So, I’m broke before the trip even begins but here we go anyway! And I can only imagine what the gas is gonna cost this year. I usually rack up about $3,000 for that on these trips but I imagine it will be more like $4,000 or worse this time. Donations are always welcome!!
You can follow along for nightly postings of a few photos taken each day at Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roadarch_com/ After this post, you won’t be hearing anything from me at this blog until I get home and start working on each daily batch of photos. The focus this year is on Kentucky & Tennessee but there are lots of stops planned for other states on the way to and from.
Now then — here is a sampling of the photos from my Bay Area/Central California trip last weekend.
This Buddha sculpture faces Highway 101 traffic in Redwood City:
This “Friendship Bench” sculpture is in Calistoga at the Clos Pegase Winery:
This theatre is in Monterey:
The Ice Cream Bar in San Francisco:
The McHenry Library at UC Santa Cruz (in Santa Cruz):
The PG&E Substation in San Francisco:
A smaller, replica welcome arch in downtown Orland:
This sign in Larkspur surely had painted details on those panels originally:
These signs at Dawn Ranch in Guerneville were installed around 2017. They appear to be retro, modern signs:
The Grove Motel in Willows:
A close-up of the Rio Theatre sign in Monte Rio:
And lastly — I was able to shoot this restored Greyhound Bus sign in Redding in the sun this time:
Come tag along virtually at Instagram on my summer roadtrip! The rubber hits the road on May 28.
Now that I’ve got all of last year’s photos up at the website and all the pages combed for broken links/maps checked (all those recent “news” posts here)… it was good to get away for three days of driving and shooting.
The Lady of the Lake statue in Echo Park (Los Angeles):
This cow statue is in Oceanside. I only know of one other like this on public display (in Iowa):
This bird statue is known as “Pinky” and is installed way up on a pillar at a construction site in Eagle Rock:
The world’s largest (42′ long) surfboard in Huntington Beach:
The Shore Bar in Santa Monica:
The former Callahan’s Restaurant in Santa Monica:
These streamline moderne apartments are on S. Crescent Heights Blvd. in Los Angeles:
The W.D. Longyear Building in Beverly Hills:
The Marriott Hotel near LAX in Los Angeles:
The “Flying Diaper” house in Running Springs:
The Seventh Day Adventist Church in Long Beach:
A former Tastee-Freez in Pomona:
“Neighbors” by John Cerney in Palm Springs:
This sign is in Rialto:
This one is in downtown Los Angeles — most likely opal glass letters on top originally:
This twin YMCA signs are also in downtown Los Angeles:
This recently restored sign is in Burbank:
This one is in Pomona:
The restoration of this sign in South El Monte is nearly done:
This sign in San Bernardino has new panels and bulbs:
This sign in Ontario was restored just a few weeks ago:
Let me introduce this new member of our family: Pivot. She’s about 9 mos. old and joined my pack a couple of mos. ago.
I had to put down Gremlin in December due to health issues. But she had a good long life: 19 years. Here’s the current roadtrip crew which you’ll be seeing more of very soon — L to R: Griz, Orbie, Dilly & Piv:
Just seven weeks from now, we’ll be heading out on this summer’s big adventure focusing on Kentucky and Tennessee with other states on the way there and back. I’ll have one more roadtrip (and post) to Central California/Bay Area. I always take these two local trips to test the van, my camera, laptop, etc. to make sure we are good to go.
The Wausau Area Visitors Center in Rothschild, WI has been demolished:
This motel (originally the Empire House Hotel) in Bay City, MI has been renovated for student housing (Lux Off Washington) and the canopy is gone:
These buildings at the Bald Mountain Recreation Area in Lake Orion, MI were designed by Gunnar Birkerts. They were demolished last year for new restrooms:
The Ascension Lutheran Church in Paradise Valley, AZ was designed by William Wesley Peters, FL Wright’s son-in-law. It was demolished in 2024 but the spire was saved and gifted to the City:
The Moffat County Courthouse in Craig, CO has been demolished:
The First Baptist Church of Spring Branch in Houston, TX has been demolished:
The Kleberg Bank in Corpus Christi, TX has been demolished. It was one of my favorites in the entire country:
The surviving Florida Wonderland building in Titusville, FL has been demolished:
The Miami Springs Baptist Church in Miami Springs, FL is gone now:
The Rail Splitter Rest Areas (north and south bound) in Springfield, IL on I-55…:
… are being remodeled. They are keeping (or recreating?) the mushroom canopies that were over the restrooms and building behind them:
This building in Costa Mesa, CA was originally built for Hollister’s Nursery. In recent years, it housed used car dealerships. The building is gone now:
These nice tile mosaics on the Bel Air Building in Stockton, CA… :
… are gone now:
And with that, I’m finally done with this winter website project. I’ll be gearing up for the big June/July trip (focus on Tennessee & Kentucky this year) with a couple of California trips to make sure everything is ready (van, laptop, phone apps, dogs, me) for the demanding itinerary. I’ll probably do a little post here with some photos from those trips and then you won’t hear from me until August or so when I start posting photos from the summer.
Moving on to the biggest section of all and the last one for this winter project.
The former Apex Department Store in Pawtucket, RI has been demolished:
This former car wash canopy in Fort Lauderdale, FL is gone now:
This store in Spirit Lake, IA moved to a new location last year and these signs are gone:
This Lustron house in Peotone, IL is the only one that I know of that has been adapted for commercial use. It now houses the Dolo Miti sandwich shop:
I haven’t shot the one in WaKeeney, KS — but here’s what it looks like at Street View now. Apparently, someone disassembled all the steel panels, inside & out, and moved them to Canada:
This Lustron in Loudonville, NY has been demolished:
This building in Jackson, MS has been demolished. Originally, it was supposed to be included in the new development but that didn’t happen.
The photos of the redeveloped former Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel in Jackson, MS are up at StreetView now. They actually did a very nice job with restoring the sign and preserving the canopy and building behind it. One of my photos from 2019:
And StreetView from last year just before it opened as the Hen and Egg restaurant. To nitpick, I wish the original, closely-spaced flagpoles in front of the building were still there and they hadn’t gone with the green glass:
This bank and its canopies in Farmington, NM were demolished last year:
The Budget Inn in Kingston, PA has been demolished:
This former Fotomat in Shelton, WA is gone now:
For a while, there were two of them side-by-side, missing their planter bases:
The Sussex County Technical School in Sparta, NJ had two of these geodesic domes. The one over the pool was demolished but this one survives:
This motel in Wildwood Crest, NJ has been rebranded as the Ala Kai North and this sign is gone:
This motel in North Wildwood, NJ…:
…has a new name but thank goodness they left the bird panel:
The Tangiers Motel sign in Wildwood Crest, NJ fell over on the roof and was badly damaged in 2020. It is still missing and I assume it won’t be back:
That’s enough for one post — be back soon with more.
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