Day 14: Even More Kansas

It’s been a few weeks, I know. I was sidetracked with a trip up to San Francisco for the NeonSpeaks live presentations and then the virtually watching/presenting myself last weekend. If you love signs, you are definitely missing out if you haven’t been part of it. It’s been going on since 2018, so chances are, they will be doing it again next year. Flag your calendar for mid-September.

www.neonspeaks.org

On the way up to SF, I took a couple of days off from work to shoot things in Central California & the Bay Area. Once I catch up with this summer’s trip, I’ll add those photos to my website and post some other shots here.

Now, back to Kansas. Let’s start off with some Salina, KS signs. This pair of directional signs point the way to two motels in town:

Let’s have a look at the two motel pole signs that they direct you to. The Starlite Motel on the left was quite lovely when I shot it in 2010:

But around 2021, the neon was removed and it was repainted — here’s a Google image (couldn’t bear to shoot it myself on this trip):

By the way, this top of the sign in Minneapolis has the same design and lettering. I don’t know if it built by the same sign shop (unlikely) or one of the sign’s was inspired by the other. Note that the Salina sign was not built with the “Swiss cheese” holes below but has a readerboard instead:

The Airliner Motel is still hanging on:

This ghost sign is also in Salina. It’s an odd place for one but at least its protected from the sun now:

This faded beauty is in Belleville, KS:

This bookshelf mural is on the side of the library in Clay Center, KS:

This sign in Sabetha, KS is pretty bland looking at this point with its missing neon, hand-painted letters, and Christmas tree bulbs. The shade from the surrounding trees made the sign look even drearier. The letters originally read “Koch’s.” I can’t find any vintage photos but I assume that was also a pointing arrow at the top:

This rusting temperature clock in Holton, KS hangs on the side of what appears to be a former garage:

The Cedar Court Motel sign in Clay Center, KS is half-covered now:

From a vintage postcard – note that, at some point, the neon on the nicely-painted tree was removed and text panel was replaced with a corrugated plastic panel:

But these two signs on the motel’s restaurant building remain intact:

I believe this towering palm tree sign in Salina was built in 2004. The restaurant has closed so I don’t know what will become of this sign:

This sign is in Clay Center. I can’t find any vintage images or postcards to show whether the “MOTEL” panel was ever neon:

This sign is in Hiawatha. The little “TV PHONE” panel originally had an “AAA” endorsement:

This sign in Mankato is probably from the 1960s:

There was another sign there in the 1950s – I can only find a tiny image of it:

The Post Rock Motel in Lincoln, KS was still quite nice when I shot it in 2010:

Last year the neon was removed and replaced with plastic letters and the middle panel with a graphic display box:

The Porter Hotel in Beloit, KS was built in 1939. By the 1950s, it had an L-shaped sign above, an Art Deco looking canopy sign, and a neon Coffee Shop sign on the side of the building:

In 1989, the building began housing the Porter Apartments. In 2004, the name was changed to the Porter House Apartments. These signs were apparently either built in 1989 and adapted — or built in 2004 when the name changed:

The Ute Theatre in Mankato, KS dates back to 1905. I don’t know what the original sign and marquee looked like but these were there by 1982 when John Margolies took this photo:

By 2009, those had been replaced with the current signs. The older version had a much nicer, painted face. This looks like laser-generated vinyl:

This bowling sign in Belleville, KS was built in 2021:

Let’s wrap up this post with a few buildings. This Art Deco Courthouse is in Mankato, KS:

Some details from another Art Deco stunner: The United Building in Salina, KS:

The Fox Watson Theatre in Salina, KS opened in 1931. It’s now known as the Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts. The top two levels of this tower and the spire were damaged by lightning in 1954 and recreated in 2020: