From the Diners section. This Mountain View diner in Indianapolis, IN housed a Subway from at least 2007-2022:

The latest Google StreetView from June shows it vacant with a sign saying it would soon house Roi Taco:

The Spud Boy Diner in Lanesboro, MN is missing at StreetView now. I combed the internet for info but found nothing. I’m assuming that it’s in storage:

The Paramount diner in Greensboro, NC a the La Bamba restaurant …:

… is still there but it’s been painted over – why?????

This Valentine diner in Lufkin, TX was housing a bakery focusing on decorated sugar cookies until around 2022:

The diner is now housing the Downtown Scoop ice cream shop:

Oh dear. The two mid-1950s diners in Wichita Falls, TX that were moved there in 2005 for the Pumpjack Diner are now part of a packing & shipping place. One was a Mountain View from Wilmington, DE. The other an O’Mahony from Dayton, OH. Both had been completely restored, inside and out, by Steve Harwin of Diversified Diners. The Pumpjack only lasted a year. The Pioneer Diner which followed lasted about 3 years. For a few months in 2017, the diners operated as the Sidecar Brewery. In 2019, one opened as a Mexican restaurant. And now… I shudder to think of what the interiors look like now, if anything is left:

Here are a couple of photos that I took of them in 2011:

Moving on to the Animal Statues section. This bear in Cook, MN is gone now:

This polar bear in Houston, TX is gone now:

This fiberglass rooster in New Harmony, IN is gone now:

This eagle in Hot Springs, AR is gone now:

The mallard duck statue in Mallard, IA was taken down for restoration in 2022. Here’s a photo that I took in 2006:

From the city website during the project:

The statue was reinstalled in 2023 but I don’t know why it still looks so wrinkled:

The rooster and turkey in Lincoln, AR are gone now:

This buffalo statue in El Dorado, AR is gone now:

The giant bull that was installed on the roof of Anthony’s Steakhouse in Omaha, NE. The restaurant opened in 1967. I don’t know if this statue was there then but it had been there for decades. When Anthony’s closed last year, the statue was auctioned off and…

… it now resides at the T-Bone Truck Stop in Columbus, NE:

This bull has been installed on the roof of the Golden Bull restaurant in Adelphi, MD for decades:

Around 2021, it was removed for repainting. It will be going back on the roof but, for now, it’s standing in the parking lot:

This Husky statue in Levis, QC is gone now:

These Husky statues in York, NE are also gone:

The walleye statue in Rush City, MN…:

… was recently repainted:

This bass statue in Manitowish Waters, WI is gone now:

This store in Prescott, AZ has closed and the horses are gone:

This statue was at the Cheese Maker in Plain, WI. The store closed in 2021 and the mouse is gone now:

This leaping deer in Defiance, OH is gone now:

This killer whale in Sarasota, FL is gone now:

This pet store in Toronto, ON closed earlier this year and the iguana, aka Lizzy, is gone now:

Let’s end on a positive note. This mouse in Luxemburg, WI:

… has been repainted recently and now wears a little vest and a cheesehead!

I’m about 1/3 of the way through this project with about 2,000 pages to go. The 7 biggest sections with more than 100 pages each remain. The two biggest sections will be last (signs: about 350 pages; midcentury modern buildings about 500 pages).

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs

website | blog | Flickr | Instagram