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.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

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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.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This sign in St. Louis, MO is gone now. The business had been closed since 2001:

This sign in Kirksville, MO is gone now:

This sign in Lebanon, MO is gone now:

The Spec’s Liquor in Ennis, TX has closed and this sign is gone:

This sign in Dallas, TX is gone now. The company appears to have moved to Carrollton, TX:

This sign in Amarillo, TX is gone now:

This Chicken Shack in Corpus Christi, TX opened in 2006 and this sign was built then. It has closed and this sign is gone now:

This sign in Grand Prairie, TX is gone now:

This sign in Greenville, TX is gone now:

This sign in Stanton, TX is gone now:

This Genie Car Wash in Waco, TX was built in 1964 as the chain’s first location. It was the very last of the vintage signs on display — gone now but I’m hoping someone saved it:

This sign in Oak Lawn, IL is gone now:

Here’s a painful one. This restaurant in Ottawa, IL closed in 2024:

… and now here’s what’s happened to it:

This sign in Quincy, IL is gone now:

This sign in San Leandro, CA is gone now:

These signs in Los Angeles, CA are gone now:

This sign in Anaheim, CA is gone now:

The Pea Soup Anderson’s in Santa Nella, CA has replaced this sign…:

… with this backlit plastic letter version:

This sign in Crockett, CA is gone now. I assume that Bill Concannon who operated his shop, Aargon Neon, there has the sign:

This sign in Daly City, CA is gone now. The restaurant had closed in 2022:

This business and sign in Hawthorne, CA are gone now:

This sign in Inyokern, CA is gone now:

The Vintage Reserve Garage in Lodi, CA has apparently closed and all of the signs there are gone. Here’s just one of the signs that was hung outside:

This sign in Vallejo, CA is gone now:

At long last, that’s a wrap for the Signs section. One more section to go for this annual project: the Mid-Century Modern Buildings. That’s the biggest section with well over 500 pages to go through. Be back soon with another post.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

The Hollywood Bread building in Hollywood, FL was demolished in 2021 just after my photo here:

The letters were supposedly all saved and would be installed on top of the new building. However, that didn’t happen. It looks like all that remains or is displayed are the “Bread” letters in the lobby — restored with LED rope instead of neon. Photo below from this IG post here:
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DSTRiwKiZmR/

The Lorelei Restaurant sign in Islamorada, FL…:

… has been replaced with a more realistic mermaid with a bathing suit top. I’m surprised that the new sign is also painted wood. Personally, I like the older, cruder version. This GSV photo is from December, hence the temporary installation of a Santa hat:

The artist at work from her IG account: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3_V_Q4s5jT/

The Kentucky Motel sign in St. Petersburg, FL is gone now. My photo from 2009 (before the eagle had been painted over):

This sign in Tampa, FL has been replaced with a backlit plastic rectangular box sign:

This sign in Allegan, MI is gone now:

This store in Brighton, MI closed in 2021…:

… and the sign has been adapted with crappy plastic letters:

This business and sign in Grand Rapids, MI are gone now:

This sign in Kaleva, MI is gone now:

This sign in Ephrata, WA is gone now:

This sign in Pasco, WA was adapted for another business and these panels were replaced:

David Webb passed away last year and most or all of his sign collection in Pomeroy, WA was auctioned off a month ago. He had dozens of signs scattered around town and probably hundreds of others stashed away. StreetView doesn’t show them missing yet but I know this one is definitely gone:

The sign panels for this closed business in Bartlesville, OK are gone now:

This sign in Bartlesville, OK…:

has been stripped of its neon and repainted:

The El Charro restaurant in Mesa, AZ closed in 2024 and the signs have been removed. The Mesa Preservation Foundation has the signs and will eventually display them somewhere:

This sign in Miami, AZ is gone now:

This sign in Reno, NV…:

… is now on display in Austin, TX at a bar named after the sign (“Fortune Teller”). Posted to their IG page:

This sign in Lovelock, NV…:

… has been repainted… at least they left the old tin border around the bottom panel:

One more bit of bad sign news — this just happened so it’s not reflected at Google Street View yet. This sign in Chicago, IL just came down. The business was sold and the sign was moved to Industrial Arts in DeKalb, IL. I don’t know if they plan to keep it for a while or will be selling it:

Just 4 more states worth of signs to go through but they are the big sections. Back with another post soon.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This sign in New Orleans, LA…(my photo from 2019) was removed last year…:

… and has been “restored” (I guess fixed neon & maybe components and cleaned the plexi coverings) — this photo below from Q. Lee’s FB page — link below for photos of the reinstallation a few weeks ago:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/919789933873998

The Tujague’s restaurant moved and that this sign in New Orleans, LAwas removed last year — to be displayed at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum….

… but this sign still remains at the 2025 GSV…:

… and the smaller sign is gone and I don’t know where it went:

This sign in Pratt, KS is gone now:

This sign in Salina, KS is gone now:

This sign in Dodson, MT is gone now:

This sign in Roundup, MT is gone now:

This sign in Nashville, TN…:

… was “updated” last year with plastic panels:

False alarm! These signs in Pulaski, TN were missing at the latest Street View from 2023:

… but their FB post from later that year shows the signs back up and the neon restored:

Miller Paint in Portland, OR has been sold to Rodda Paint. This store closed and the sign is gone now:

Fairley’s Pharmacy in Portland, OR remains open but the signs have gone through unfortunate changes over the years. Here’s a photo I took in 2008 which shows the neon, a great Coca-Cola sign, an applied letter projecting sign:

By 2015 (my photo below), the neon, the projecting and Coca-Cola signs at the entrance was gone. The panels had backlit plastic letters:

… and now the latest StreetView shows the panels had been removed and the business now just has signs painted on the building:

The former V Motel sign in Ontario, OR is gone now:

This sign in Salem, OR is gone now:

14 states to go in the Signs section. Back with another post soon!

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This sign in Atlanta, GA…:

… might be gone now. Google Street View shows renovations going on last year which had the storefront taken back down to the brick:

This sign in Willacoochee, GA is gone now:

The Colonie Animal Hospital letters in Albany, NY…:

… have unfortunately been replaced with this plastic sign:

This sign in Troy, NY is gone now:

There was also this sign in St. Charles, MO which was removed last year. I thing these were the last two on public display:

I just shot this sign in Louisville, KY in June and it was gone two months later:

This sign in Salt Lake City, UT is gone now:

This motel in Wheatland, WY has been replaced with a Dollar General and this sign is gone:

This sign in Wheatland, WY has been repainted – my photo from 2022:

and at Google Street View from last year:

This sign in Quakertown, PA is gone now:

Finally, some good news: this sign in Pocatello, ID…:

… was restored and installed a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a photo at the relighting from the Idaho Heritage Trust FB account:

This Masonic Lodge sign in Arco, ID appears to be gone. I don’t know if that’s temporary or permanent:

This sign in Blackfoot, ID that was at an antiques store (now closed) has been removed:

This sign in Albert Lea, MN…:

… has been updated with horrible backlit plastic letters:

These two signs in Hermantown, MN are gone now. They were both on the same sign poles:

20 states to go in the Signs section. Back with more soon!

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

This is bound to be a multi-part post since we lose so many signs every year.

From the Bear Manufacturing signs section, this one in Belle Fourche, SD is gone now:

This store closed in 2023 and this sign in Durham, NC is gone now:

Vinyl Giant Records in Fargo, ND closed last year and this sign which was displayed in the window is gone now:

The original Taco Shop location in Fargo, ND closed and this sign is gone:

Major bummer! The Home of Economy chain in North Dakota was sold to the Runnings chain in 2024 and all of the vintage signs were removed as the stores were rebranded. I don’t know if any survived. In Williston, ND, this pole sign is gone…

… as is this sign which was originally on the roof:

A similar sign was displayed inside the Minot, ND location:

The Grafton, ND location also lost its pole sign for a plastic Runnings box sign:

The Grand Forks, ND sign is still there at Google Street View but I’m sure that’s just that that site hasn’t caught up yet. The Devils Lake, ND location also lost its pole sign and this unique rooftop sign was adapted:

Reno’s Sports Bar in Hillsboro, ND closed in 2018 and this sign is gone now:

This sign in Cave City, AR was destroyed last year during a tornado:

This sign in Pine Bluff, AR is gone now:

This sign in Imperial NE is gone now (and apparently some birds lost their home):

This Western Auto projecting sign in Anniston, AL is gone now. The panel sign remains:

From the Norge Village Cleaners section, this “Norge Ball” in Los Angeles, CA is gone now:

From the Rexall Drug section, this long painted-over sign in Goleta, CA is gone now:

This business (and sign) in Sisseton, SD is gone now:

This sign in Howard, SD is gone now:

This sign in Yankton, SD…:

… was updated around 2012 to look like the photo below…. and now the sign is gone — replaced with another sign for a different business:

This post is getting long so let’s take a break. 29 more states to go in the Signs section so I’ll be back soon with more “news.”

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

It’s been a rough year for gas stations. Normally, there are a just few demolitions and some unfortunate remodelings. But this year, so many former stations have been torn down all over the country.

This very rare double-gable Conoco station in Shelby, MT…:

… is now being remodeled with an addition to the front of the gable on the left — ugh:

This former Sinclair station (yes, Phillips 66 design but branding was Sinclair in several states) in White Sulphur Springs, MT has been demolished:

This station in New Orleans, LA has been demolished:

This former Pan-Am station in LaPlace, LA has been demolished:

This former Standard Oil “Red Crown” station in Sioux Falls, SD has been demolished:

This former Rotary station in Buchanan, NY has been demolished:

This former Phillips 66 station in Denver, CO is being adapted for a restaurant and retail space:

The only illustration of what is planned is this tiny thing which is impossible to read. But I guess the Phillips letters will be removed and the bays lost as windows, and with some connecting thing between the bays and the former office building. It looks like a really minimal effort at preservation:

This station in Shamokin, PA has been demolished:

This former station in Mediapolis, IA has been demolished:

This station in Conneaut, OH is gone now. I can’t find any articles online but I suspect there was a massive fire since the big Victorian house to the left and several houses behind this station have all been demolished as well:

Here’s a John Margolies photo from 1977:

and one of my photos from 2010:

This station in Grand Rapids, MI has been demolished:

The rooftop former neon sign in Dallas, TX has been removed. The porcelain panels were painted over years ago:

These former Mobil station canopies in Tampa, FL are gone now:

The canopy was removed and the building remodeled at this former Phillips 66 station in Breckenridge Hills, MO:

This former Gulf station in New Albany, IN is gone now:

Let’s end this section with some good news. This prefabricated gas station by Butler Manufacturing in Gordon, WI was saved from demolition and moved downtown as an ice cream shop. Google Street View doesn’t show it there yet but here’s a photo from the Gordon Station’s Facebook page:

In the next post, I’ll be moving on to the section that a lot of you have been waiting for: Signs.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram

The Foster’s Freeze in Brawley, CA….

… has been updated with plastic signs. Soooo sad. I hope someone saved that porcelain enamel sign and the script letters. Those are incredibly rare now:

The former Arby’s in Pomona, CA has been demolished:

This former Dog House in Los Angeles, CA has been demolished for parking. I believe this was the last of the Los Angeles locations:

It looked like this originally – a John Margolies photo of one of the Los Angeles locations in 1976:

The “Classic” double drive-thru McDonald’s building in Upland, CA…:

… has been replaced with this giant thing:

The McDonald’s single-arch shield sign in Pine Bluff, AR is gone now. I called the store and they said that McDonald’s corporate took the sign. There’s not a thing on-line about this. Very strange. I believe there only five left of these now:

This former Horne’s restaurant in Lake City, FL has been demolished:

The former Pyramid Supper Club in Juneau, WI has been demolished:

This ice cream stand and mini golf (later Temptations) in Allegan, MI has been bulldozed:

This drive-in in Dowagiac, MI became Arnie’s Drive-in last year and this neon sign is gone:

The Hen House in Mitchell, IL has been demolished:

This former Howard Johnson’s Motor Lodge gatehouse in Anaheim, CA was demolished last year:

The former Tastee-Freez in Moorhead, MN is now housing Buddy’s Parfait:

This former Heap Big Beef in Bloomington, IL has been demolished:

This former Heap Big Beef in Kenner, LA is also gone:

That’s it for the “Eateries.” In the next post, I’ll be moving on to the Gas Stations section. It’s another biggie with over 300 pages — followed by the remaining two and biggest sections in later posts (Signs and Mid-Century Buildings).

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

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Usually, there are at least several “surprise” Theatre demolitions during this portion of the annual marathon project. But this year, I only have one. The former Rose Theatre in Glendive, MT and the much larger building to the right was demolished after a fire:

Lots of theatres closed/reopened for renovations, etc. in the 160 pages that I went through. But not dramatic changes to the exterior of the buildings. I’ll just include a couple examples of some news in this post.

This theatre in Shawnee, OK changed their readerboards to graphic displays and the neon to crappy LED rope. This is actually happening all over the country with theatres right now. I bet in 10 years, all the readerboards will be gone. I don’t know of any city sign codes that prohibit graphic displays — but plenty still outlaw new neon signs! Anyhow, one of my photos of the Ritz in 2020. Sure, those plastic letters are not original but they have a certain 1960s charm:

And from StreetView now — at least they didn’t touch the neon on the blade sign (yet!):

Have a look at this closeup of that crappy rubber rope. You can’t make straight lines, crisp corners, or even nice curves with that junk. And then it starts falling off in a year or two:

For comparison, here was the neon:

The restoration of the Hardy’s Theatre in Fresno, CA is coming along which is a good thing. But….

… if you look closely, the the missing neon was replaced with, you guessed it, crappy, sloppy LED tubing. How can it look so bad already? Just wait a couple of years and half of it will have fallen out of the channels:

Moving on to the Art Deco section – more than 200 pages and just a few things to report here. This former restaurant building in Orange, MA is gone now:

The Riverfront Parking Garage in Memphis, TN was mistakenly in the Art Deco section but I think it’s really from the 1950s or 1960s. It has been demolished for a new art museum that’s being built. I doubt any of the concrete block or eagle sculptures were saved:

This building in Long Beach, CA is gone now – demolished for more parking:

Moving on to the Eateries (restaurants) section. This little, porcelain enamel false front in Miami, AZ is gone now. I have no idea where it came from or where it went:

The Tasty Dip in Heflin, AL has closed…:

… and the sign is laying flat on the roof:

Claud’s Hamburgers in Tulsa, OK closed in 2022…

It is now housing Inheritance Kitchen + Juicery:

This drive-in in Charlotte, NC has closed and the property has been sold:

Lapp’s Olympia Dairy Bar in Carneys Point, NJ which closed in 2021 has been demolished:

This former Ku-Ku restaurant in Bryan, TX was demolished for a boring boxy building:

This former Planters Peanut shop from 1939 in Binghamton, NY has closed:

I don’t know if this tile apron will be preserved:

This former Taco Bell in Tulsa, OK had been vacant for a few years but it’s now housing Catrina Fresh Mex:

This long-closed Weber’s Root Beer in Brooklawn, NJ has been bulldozed. I hope someone saved the sputnik sign and the spinning ball sign:

This sign at the Weber’s Root Beer in Pennsauken, NJ was knocked over by high winds last year. I don’t know if it will be replaced or if the spinning discs were destroyed:

This post is running pretty long. So, let’s pick up with more Eateries next time. I still have hundreds of pages to go through.

Happy Trails,
dj & the dogs

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