This blog documents the photo-gathering roadtrips for RoadsideArchitecture.com (aka roadarch.com). That gigantic website covers buildings, signs & statues from the 1920s-1970s. The posts here offer about a dozen photos from each day of shooting. In winter, there are "news" posts about demolitions, removals, remodeling, restorations, etc.
This towering pole sign is in Aberdeen. I don’t believe LSN Inc. exists anymore but I’m grateful that this fun sign remains:
The Asian Garden in Aberdeen has closed but this nice detail over the entrance survives:
The Cloverleaf Bar & Grill is located on the corner of the Berens Hotel is in Selby:
The chrome, wedge-shaped motel sign panel in Huron was previously painted yellow and the text, obviously, had neon:
This sign is also in Huron:
Pizza King (despite the spelling on the sign) opened in this location in Brookings in 1961. I suspect the sign was adapted from another business at that time:
This sign at the Flame Steakhouse in Aberdeen is installed on top of the readerboard:
This sign is located in Mobridge:
This Zesto location is located in Pierre. The Zesto section at my website is here:
This day was spent straddling the borders of three states. The next three or four posts will be focusing on South Dakota.
Let’s start with this place in Milbank, SD. The name and sign were recently changed from Manor Motel. You can see the old tubing holes at the top — no idea why they didn’t patch those. Surely, the sign had all neon originally and the “& Extended Stay” panel was added later.
I doubt that it’s coincidence that the sign’s triangle mimics the office’s 1960s-looking roofline. The adjacent restaurant, known as the Millstone Family Restaurant, has the same style roof and was probably built at the same time. Alas, that building is pretty ugly now with crappy vinyl siding.
This sign is in Canby, MN. It’s been missing the neon and has had “Home Painted” letters for years:
Here are three signs in Wahpeton, ND:
The “Lounge” panel had the same neat dimpled plastic pattern as “Sportsman’s” but it was damaged by the weather and the sign co. told the owner that they didn’t make that material anymore:
There’s a little less paint every time I see this sign. It was moved from the front of the building to the back many years ago:
This bar is gone but this sign was saved and installed in the Community Center in the small town of Hankinson, ND. I was able to shoot it through the window in the early morning:
How about a couple of movie theatre marquees? Both theatres still operating. This one in Britton, SD:
The Canby Theatre in Canby, MN:
And now for a few buildings. This odd little former gas station with a Sinclair pole sign is in Watertown, SD:
This former Tastee-Freez is in Hankinson, ND:
This former Harold’s Camera Shop is in Watertown, SD. I’m sure those panels were vitrolite originally:
Let’s close with a trio of statues. This blocky buffalo is in Fergus Falls, MN:
The giant catfish, aka the “Wahpper,” in Wahpeton, ND:
The “Black Viking” high on Pyramid Hill in Fort Ransom, ND:
Back soon with more photos. In the meantime, don’t forget that there are lots of different photos over at Flickr from this trip posted in daily batches as I write these posts:
Another full day of North Dakota with a little bit of Minnesota border cities.
Let’s start with a couple of signs from Hillsboro, ND. This faded plastic sign at Tap That Bar. The Hamm’s letters would have been red originally and the bar’s name would have been in the white stripe at the bottom:
Reno’s Sports Bar & Grill is closed but this sign remains:
A bunch of signs in Fargo, ND. This one’s gotta be modern but fun:
Another modern (1983) but nice one. The restaurant is closed now so this sign might not be around much longer or it will be refaced:
A vintage sign in the window of Vinyl Giant Records:
I’m sad to report that this sign was adapted earlier this year. Here it was in 2011:
and now:
The groundbreaking at the YMCA in 1961 with the two original signs in the background:
Somehow, this sign below at the same location got approved and listed on the National Register of Historic Places earlier this year as an example of “early 1960s design” but it is clearly later than that and was not the original sign:
A modern sign installed in 2019:
From West Fargo — maybe 1963:
From Grand Forks — the motel’s been demolished but this sign is there, for now:
From Lisbon at a gas station convenience store:
From Portland:
From Mayville:
Moving on to some buildings – a couple from Fargo. The Bison Hotel was built in 1905 as the Viking Hotel. In 1940, it was remodeled as the Northern Hotel. Soon after, it became the Bison Hotel and this blade sign was installed (gone now). The ground floor looks like it had pink tile then:
I don’t know when this black vitrolite tile was installed and the windows were changed. The building now houses apartments and retail space on the ground floor:
The Ford truck assembly plant was built in 1915.
and today (retail, office space, and condos):
A former A&W drive-in in Grafton – now the Westside Drive-in. The give-away that it was an A&W is the triangulated pylon on the left:
A couple of theatres — this one in Larimore:
From East Grand Forks, MN — this one is brand new (from 2007):
Let’s close with a couple of statues. A classic fiberglass Clydesdale in Grand Forks from the 1960s or so. Installed earlier this year at the Rock Bottle Shop with a little Dalmatian pal:
This statue in Fargo from 1982 was restored in 2019. “Sodbuster, San Isidro” depicts a plowing farmer and a pair of oxen:
Back soon with a little more North Dakota and then moving on to South Dakota.
I still have about 19 more days/blog posts to go for this trip. I’m optimistically hoping that I can get all of the photos up at my website (and these little blog posts) by the end of October.
Let’s start with this sign in Bismarck. I’m sure there were different plastic panels here originally but it’s still cool, especially the snowflakes:
This Gordy’s Bar sign in Cando would look a lot nicer with the plastic covers removed:
This sign is in Devils Lake:
Another sign in Devils Lake. The torch on top is not original to the porcelain enamel panels below. I believe it was for a Standard Oil “As You Travel With Us” sign produced in the 1960s/1970s:
This sign is also in Devils Lake — special enough but….
what is extra special is the original rooftop signs which none of the remaining locations have:
This sign is at the Wonder Lanes in New Rockford:
Moving on to some statues. This concrete turtle is in Belcourt. There a several giant turtles in North Dakota due to their proximity to the Turtle Mountains:
Sandy the Sandhill Crane is in Steele and is 40 feet tall:
This giant buffalo in Jamestown is 26 feet tall:
How about a couple of theatres? This one is in Langdon:
and this one is in New Rockford:
A couple of Art Deco buildings. This courthouse is in Bismarck:
The Towner County Soldiers memorial is in Cando:
And lastly, the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Bismarck is from 1945:
One more full day of North Dakota after this before we move on to South Dakota. More photos coming soon since Labor Day is giving me three days of basically uninterrupted time at the computer.
Let’s start this post in New Town where there are one of the very few Jack & Jill Food Center signs left. These and similar signs were once all over Nebraska, Oklahoma, Iowa, North Dakota, and other states:
In Williston, this I Keating Furniture World store has two of these rooftop scaffold signs on opposite corners of their building:
This I Keating Furniture World in Minot has a globe sign on the corner. The motor box below indicates that it revolved originally. I’ve got globe signs and giant globes from all over the country at my website here:
The Ten Spot Lanes sign is from Mandan. I recently moved all of the bowling signs to their own section at my website in order to have a nice companion section for an upcoming SCA article. You’ll find those pages here:
This modern sign is in Minot. There is a similar Vegas Motel sign in Williston but the motel itself has been demolished so the sign may not be around long.
Another sign from Minot:
From Garrison. “Drugs” at the bottom and the original business name on top have been covered up with those panels since at least 2008. This is one of the non-neon Rexall sign lit with lights overhead, presumably a cheaper choice with less maintenance:
A now closed Amoco station in Carson. This sign is probably from the 1970s (the company began using this logo in 1971):
This seemingly simple, rooftop oil derrick sign in Williston, formerly laced with neon (now LED tubing), may not look like much:
But it’s actually what I believe is the sole-surviving example of the mass-produced Mid-Continent Supply Co. signs built for all of their locations in the 1940s & 1950s. From the descriptions I’ve read, the neon gushing oil at the top was animated. Here’s a vintage photo from 1942 in Odessa, TX:
Moving on to some statues. This 19-foot-tall statue of Earl Bunyon [sic], Paul Bunyan’s brother, in New Town is being restored. It was built in 1958 and here’s a vintage postcard photo. He originally held a fishing pole and later a branding iron in his left hand:
and today:
These 12-foot-tall steel sculptures of explorers Lewis & Clark and the Mandan Indian Chief were installed in Washburn at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in 2004:
I brake for Statue of Liberty statues, no matter how big, small, or ugly. I like the jumbo streetlight torch on this one in Williston. If you’d like to see the “collection,” they are at my website here:
I also brake for windmills and lighthouses — with preference for the fake ones. This windmill in Minot was previously located in Powers Lake. It was built in 1928 and was used as a real one then. For more windmills, I’ve got five full pages of them here:
How about a few buildings to close this post? The Thompson Apartments building in Minot was built in 1948:
This Art Deco building in Mohall was built from 1936-1937:
And lastly, one of my fave buildings in North Dakota: the Northern National Life Insurance Building from 1965 in Bismarck. Sorry for the “golden hour” shadows:
I finally finished up adding all of the Montana photos to my website (roadarch.com) and we’re now moving on to the Dakotas.
Let’s start off in Glendive, MT with this Moose Lodge sign:
Some other signs from Glendive:
The original El Centro Motel sign from the 1950s looked like this:
This update is probably from the 1960s:
This sign is in Circle, MT:
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From Bowman, ND:
From Dickinson, ND:
This painted plywood T-Rex sign in Glendive, MT was built in the early 1990s. The city is now fundraising to restore and repaint it, and possibly add LED lights:
Moving on to some non-signs. The tiny town of Regent, ND has become a tourist attraction thanks to the creations of resident Gary Greff who has built dozens of ginormous scrap metal sculptures. Here are just a few. The Tin Family:
Pheasants on the Prairie:
This Knight and Dragon…:
were built to accompany the old high school that Greff turned into the Middle Ages-themed Enchanted Castle Hotel:
This wolf sculpture in Lemmon, SD was created from scrap metal by John Lopez who has some other impressive cowboy sculptures in town (and elsewhere):
This “Waiting on the School Bus” sculpture in Glendive, MT was installed around 2017 in front of the Dawson County High School:
Let’s close with a couple of buildings. This petrified wood covered gas station in Lemmon, SD is located next to the Petrified Wood Park and Museum:
And this former bank in Glendive, MT from 1966 now houses a library:
I’ve got about 3 more days of ND and 4 more days of SD to go. Be back soon with more photos.
One more full day of Montana before moving on to North Dakota.
Let’s start with a few photos from Shelby. The Oasis Bar & Casino:
The Elks Lodge:
A few signs from Havre. The Hi-Line Motel:
From Chinook:
From the Great Northern Hotel & Casino in Malta:
A few signs from Glasgow:
This one was removed from the facade years ago and moved inside the antiques store which took over the space. There’s now a hair salon there but the sign remains:
This one stands a the corner of Scotties Pride Drive which leads to Glasgow High School. The Scottish Terrier is the school’s mascot. This sign was being repainted as I took this photo:
From Sidney. The JC Penney store closed in 2017 but the sign remains:
From Nashua:
A double-arrow combo in Sidney:
And here are a few non-signs. A hillside of metal sculptures created by Buck Samuelson in Glasgow:
A classic fiberglass bear on the roof at the Blue Bear Car Wash in Havre:
The sign below looks like it was inspired by Bear Manufacturing’s “alignment bear” signs – at my website here:
There was a quite a bit of fog & clouds in the morning but then it was gorgeous. One of those days that had me literally running to get as many stops in as possible.
Let’s start with this sadly neglected sign in East Glacier Park:
From Helena:
This clock is on the corner of a former Husky gas station (now a muffler/radiator shop):
Here are a few signs in East Helena. This one is modern. It copied the design of the Rialto Club Room in Helena:
This sign was installed just a few years ago. It appears that new partial text panels were tacked over a vintage sign that the restaurant got from somewhere:
This Chinese restaurant has been there since the late 1800s. This looks like a modern replacement of a 1950s sign:
Here are a few photos from Great Falls:
This drug store was destroyed by fire and a new building was built nearby. Fortunately, the signs were saved and restored:
The property is surrounded by chain link fencing and demolition is planned. I don’t know what will become of this sign but I’m not optimistic it will be there long:
Another wagon wheel sign — this one in Augusta:
This sign is in Fort Benton:
These two are in Black Eagle. The neon was replaced with LED rope tubing a few years ago:
This Italian restaurant is right across the street. I believe the bulbs are scintillating:
From Dutton:
A couple of signs from Shelby:
This motel has closed and the city wants to adapt the vertical letters to read “Shelby”. The sign really does tower over the little downtown. I hope that they keep the sign even if they do a typical cheap adapting. I hope that the lantern & lower panel survive but I have a feeling they won’t make it:
Let’s close with a couple of buildings and some other stuff. The mid-century modern St. Mary Visitor Center at the entrance to Glacier National Park in St. Mary:
This former Greyhound station from 1947 is in Great Falls. The original look:
and now:
A former Triple XXX Root Beer stand shaped like a barrel in Great Falls. Unfortunately, only half the barrel is visible now:
How about some dinosaurs? This T-Rex is in Bynum:
There are three wonderful dinosaurs in Choteau in front of the Oil Trail Museum. Here are two headshots:
And, lastly, my traveling buddies with the Shep Memorial in Fort Benton:
I still have a couple more days of Montana to work on before we move on to North Dakota. Be back soon.
Let’s start with some Idaho stuff which was right across the border from the NW corner of Montana. I still have about three more days of Montana to go after this.
The canopy sign is in Wallace, ID:
The Oasis Rooms in Wallace was a brothel for many years — and now this building houses the Oasis Bordello Museum. This sign was displayed in the basement but then moved outside in recent years. I don’t know if the coconut (?) tree is original or created when the sign was hung:
The Wallace District Mining Museum in Wallace previous housed the Butter-Top which I assume was a restaurant. Some nice other neon signs in the background in this 1950s postcard:
Also in Wallace – restored recently with a different font and the wording changed from “Co.” to “Hotel”:
This one in Sandpoint, ID. The neon removed and sign repainted recently:
Another from Sandpoint at Dub’s Drive-in:
A couple of signs from Osburn, ID:
Recently repainted:
From Kellogg:
Back to Montana: in Kalispell:
A couple of signs from Libby:
Closed for a number of years but the sign and log cabin-ish restaurant still there:
From Polson. I believe this sign was inspired by the Chief Diner sign in Durango, CO. See my webpage here:
Here’s the latest installment from the Montana portion of this summer’s trip.
From Drummond – the squarest arrow that I’ve ever seen. With a strange little readerboard built it. I guess that was used for the price or something very short!
I missed shooting the motel’s other sign which is still there. This postcard shows a panel on top right above “MOTEL” that now reads “Phones”:
The Bel Aire Motel in Missoula had a pole sign in the 1960s:
This digital board at the bottom was originally a backlit plastic readerboard with changeable letters:
Some more signs from Missoula. Ron’s opened in 1965 at this location and the sign appears to be from then:
Note the multi-stroke neon tubing:
The Top Hat opened in 1952 but I’m pretty sure that this sign is modern:
A close up of the Zip sign – note the embossed letters and textured porcelain panel. This place has an incredible go-with Art Deco building — and they are still in business:
This non-working spinner sign in Butte is a mystery. The plastic panels most recently advertised for a real estate office but I don’t know what business it was built for. I have seen two and four paddle spinner signs but not one this deluxe:
This one is in Deer Lodge — probably from the 1940s/1950s:
Here are a couple of photos from Anaconda. The Barclay II opened in 1981. The building housed Gil’s Gourmet House in the 1970s. I’m betting the sign is from the 1960s:
This place was built in 1937. There was a big fire in 2016 and it looked like this place was doomed — but it wasn’t! It reopened the following year:
Let’s close with some non-signs. This is a former Tastee-Freez in Missoula — the building has housed a computer business for many years:
This rooster in the grass statue is in Seely Lake. I’ve got a few other examples of this type at my website (and you’ll find hundreds of other roosters there as well):
RoadArch.com companion 