Update from the last post: I just heard back from the WHOC station about the sign in Philadelphia, MS. The sign is now standing outside at the downtown location and is lit at night.

Mom’s Diner (originally Mom’s Peppermill Restaurant) in Hightstown, NJ closed in 2007 and was demolished last year. The rickety sign is still there. The “Diner” panel was once an animated peppermill and the top panel reading “Exit” and “8” revolved. I don’t know if whatever gets built here will adapt the sign. This is the best I can find for the original look:

Please tell me that this sign in Ocean City, NJ is not gone! I tried calling but it is the off season. I even called the Forum Motor Inn across the street but no answer there either. The motel was put up for sale in 2022 so I’m fearing the worst:

StreetView from 2018 — note the rooftop sign on the left, the Seahorse Grill canopy, the Pavilion painted on the facade, and the neon sign on the right:

But as of August:

There’s still a skeleton sign in the office reading “Pavilion Motor Lodge” that gives me hope:

This sign in Pine Brook, NJ is definitely gone and so is the motel property — a huge vacant lot now:

Bummer! I had always wanted to shoot the neon lobster in Somers Point, NJ that was originally installed for Mac’s Seafood. It was still there in 2019:

It went through several business names after Mac’s but the lobster was still there. Until now…. all plastic crap:

This sign in Boone, IA…:

has been repainted – yay!

Well, I’m glad they brought the sign back in Chariton, IA when the building restoration was done. But they went the cheap route and used LED tubing instead of neon:

This sign in Fremont, NE is gone now:

This location in Omaha, NE has been closed for a few years…:

and now the neon has been stripped and the signs painted over with black paint:

This adapted motel sign in Omaha, NE seems to be gone now. The tattoo studio moved to a new location and this sign is not on display there:

This sign in Omaha was removed in 2022, soon after the store closed. The new property owners said they would restore the sign and display it somewhere on the property but there was nothing at StreetView:

After some digging, I found the top part of the sign installed inside the event venue, The Hitch, at Wolf’s original location. I don’t know if they kept the legs. The neon does not appear to have been restored:

Gosh, you would never know that this sign in Keeseville, NY is still there. Can you see that little bit of blue?

There it is earlier in 2011:

This one is perplexing. I never got to shoot this sign in Cedar City, UT which looked like this in 2008 in a blurry StreetView:

It apparently sat in sign shop storage in Cedar City for a while (StreetView 2015):

And now it would appear it’s been adapted and stands next to VARR in Heber City, UT (July 2022):

However, what I don’t understand is why the sign in Cedar City seems to still be there (StreetView 2022) and seems to have have the original Sullivan sign’s panels with Arcade painted over the Sullivan panel. Were there two of these signs?

This restaurant in Culpeper, VA was destroyed in a fire in 2023 and demolished. I’m told that the sign was moved to the Rock Hill Farm wedding venue in town which is owned by the same person. I couldn’t find any photos of it there yet:

This Chevrolet OK Used Cars sign in Winchester, VA is gone now:

This sign in Bradford, PA is gone. There’s a puny, plastic Econolodge sign there now:

This sign in Jermyn, PA is gone now:

That’s enough bad news for one sitting. Be back soon with more. Hopefully, there’ll be some positive stuff in the next post. 20 states to go and about 174 pages to go thru.

Happy trails,
dj & the dogs

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