I’ve got a hefty batch of photos for this post before we move on to Wyoming. Let’s start with some signs from Rapid City. This rooftop sign:

may have started out as a bulb sign:

and then it looked like this later:

In the mid-1950s, the sign got its current shape for the Hotel “Sheraton” Johnson:

In 1968, Sheraton was dropped and the hotel went back to the original name — hence the widely spaced “ALEX” letters there now. If you look closely, you’ll see that the neon was swapped for LED strips in 2016.

More signs from Rapid City:

A rare vacuum-form, plastic sign at a former dealership:

Three signs from Chamberlain:

A couple of signs from Bell Fourche:

More about these “alignment bear” aka “happy bear” signs at my website here:

https://www.roadarch.com/signs/bear.html

This sign is from Winner:

Two signs from the Full Throttle Saloon in Vale. This one was originally located in Anna, IL. I don’t know how it found its way here:

This sign was originally installed in Sturgis:

There’s not much paint left on the Gem Hotel in Murdo:

This one is also in Murdo:

This sign is in Kadoka:

From the end of the day in Hot Springs:

Time for some buildings. This house is in Gregory. I don’t know what company produced these prefabricated, modular structures or exactly when/how long they were made but I’ve shot maybe a dozen of them around the country:

This midcentury microwave tower is on the roof of the former Northwestern Bell Building in Rapid City:

A former A&W “pilgrim hat” in Winner (now a Chinese restaurant). I’ve got nine pages of A&W buildings and signs at my website here:

https://www.roadarch.com/eateries/aw.html

I love faux castle buildings. This jewelry store is in Wall. Seven pages of them at my website here:

https://www.roadarch.com/mim/castles.html

Closing up this post with some statues and other stuff. This giant mailbox is at the Full Throttle Saloon in Vale:

This rooftop moose is at the Moose Lodge in Rapid City:

This 30-foot-tall Smokey Bear is in Hill City:

That’s enough for now. Back with more photos soon. 14 days to go.

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs