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.
Some more highlights from the trek to the Midwest last month.
This single-sided “restored” sign is in Cottonwood, AZ. It originally read A. James Modern Court but they changed it to simply “James Court” a couple of years ago after they took off the ugly modern apartments panel:
This is an entirely new sign (and name) in Flagstaff, AZ created when they recently renovated a midcentury motel:
This former TraveLodge in Albuquerque, NM…:
… now houses the Hotel Zazz:
Work is still going on in Flagstaff for the Whispering Winds Motel renovation. This sign was renovated to look more like it did in the 1960s and the exterior details are being preserved:
The former Downtowner Motor Inn in Albuquerque is being renovated as Hotel Blue:
This Mexican take-out/drive-thru in Albuquerque was originally a Pup ‘n’ Taco:
Travelstead Hall at the University of Mexico in Albuquerque was built in 1963. I wish I could have gotten inside to see that incredible stained glass:
Here’s a detail from the Skydome in Flagstaff:
This Art Deco beauty in Albuquerque was built as the Salazar Mortuary and is still operating as such:
This metal sculpture in Albuquerque was installed last year:
This is just one of the dinosaurs installed at the Painted Desert Indian Center in Holbrook, AZ:
This fading kachina sign originally advertised for a souvenir shop in Holbrook. Here’s a photo I took in 2012:
and what it looks like today. The souvenir place is gone:
Back probably next weekend with some Oklahoma stuff.
I got back a week ago from this marathon trip and I have started working on the approximately 5,000 photos which will all go up at the website (roadarch.com) eventually. I will be posting a few photos here from each day’s shooting as I do so. I am also posting a sampling of photos over at Flickr (different photos from those shown here at the blog):
The focus of this trip was on Missouri and Illinois. I got all of Missouri done and all of Illinois except the Chicago area before the clock ran out (had to get back to work, my real job, that barely pays for these trips). It was a very productive trip and my van ran perfectly despite the abuse. There were only a few crappy weather days. But it was unreal hot. We begin the photos on my journey to the Midwest in the California desert and Arizona where it was over 100 degrees. I usually stop off on these trips in Cabazon, CA right off I-10 for a break and to see what the latest dinosaur paint jobs are:
The La Victoria Grocery in Blythe, CA and its pigeon friends for scale:
Surely this one in Harcuvar, AZ had neon and probably different text earlier in its life:
Also in Harcuvar (some sources/postcards say Salome though) – the former Amber Hills Motel:
This one is in Salome, AZ. Once upon a time – and note the Salome sign on the right:
and there was a cafe as well:
But I diverge… check out this old billboard in Salome which no longer exists:
The Sunset Motel sign is in Wenden, AZ:
The Saguaro Motel is in Aguila, AZ:
There’s nothing on the site yet but rocks behind The Post (former post office) but this will be the site of the Neon Garden in Mesa, AZ. This photo is of the illustration on the billboard announcing what’s to come. These signs (Watson’s Flowers, Dairy Queen, Bill Johnson’s Big Apple, and Ford) were all local and have been in the Mesa Preservation Foundation’s storage:
This sign is in Prescott, AZ:
Let’s move on to some non-signs. These two sculptures in Phoenix pay tribute to Navajo Code Talkers who served in the Marines in World War II and their language stumped the Japanese and helped win the war.
This version is more subtle symbolizing the peace that resulted from the Navajo soldiers service:
Not much progress since the 2022 announcement that the former City Center Motel project in Phoenix would become part of the EV Hotel. In fact, no signs of the development or fencing so far:
This is the plan with the giant hotel dwarfing the former motel from 1959:
This “Triangle Building” (aka Kimsey Building) in Scottsdale was built in 1962.
It was endangered but, fortunately, this building is being saved, too. The project will have a hotel, apartments, and commercial space. The building in this illustration to the left of the Triangle Building is just a dirt lot at the moment and the building that was there before did not have a folded plate canopy:
One more midcentury modern building for you. The Holy Cross Lutheran Church is also in Scottsdale:
When in Phoenix, I often stop off at Don Parks’ place to see what new statues he may have managed to cram into his two properties directly across the street from each other. I haven’t bumped into the guy yet but I understand that he has tons of other stuff in the back, behind fences, and in the houses. I wonder how the neighbors feel about this.
I’m a huge John Cerney fan and shoot his realistic, giant painted signs whenever I can. He lives in Salinas, CA so there are lots of them in central and other cities in California. But there are also commissioned painting signs in Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Florida, and elsewhere. This one is 18-feet-tall and is located in Queen Creek, AZ at Schnepf Farm. There is another one inside the farm property of a girl holding a pumpkin.
I took a second little roadtrip/roadtest to make sure all systems are go for the biggie June trip. It was supposed to be a 4-day weekend but the weather for Saturday & Sunday was for clouds & rain so I came home early. But I did cram in a bunch of shooting and will finish up with my list in August or so.
This guy is at Cameron’s Pub in Half Moon Bay:
A Michelin Man in San Jose. I’ve never seen a statue like this before:
A couple of sculptures at Point San Pablo Harbor in North Richmond:
An ice cream cone and a merman — why not — in San Bruno:
A seahorse in Seaside:
A sculpture of Seabiscuit in San Bruno:
A giant safety pin in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Yes, there’s an identical sculpture in New Orleans. More about them at this page at my website:
A former Red Barn restaurant – now the Burger Barn – in San Jose:
Some Art Deco details from San Francisco:
Some mid-century modern details from Daly City:
The ILWU (International Longshoreman’s and Warehousemen’s Union) in Oakland:
This one is in Santa Cruz:
Some horribly adapted text panels but, oh, those bulbs and stars — in San Francisco:
At the First Coin Laundry in San Francisco:
From Oakland (the projecting sign, which is nicer, is being restored by Greg Smith):
A now very rare H. Salt sign in Richmond:
Nice ripple tin panels and a stuffed animal at a bar in San Bruno:
From San Jose:
And lastly — from inside the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo coffee shop:
That’s it until after the big vacay. You can follow along nightly while I’m traveling at Instagram (link below) where I’ll be posting about a dozen photos each night that were taken that day. I’ll be posting to this blog again once I get home in July and start all the photoshopping, etc.
I’m gearing up for the annual five-week trip in June and putting my van, laptop, and body thru the paces to make sure that we are all good to go. I’ve had Gator (my van) checked out top to bottom and, after $1500 for new AC (jeez), it should be smooth sailing. Some iffy weather during this two-day shoot with lots of grey photos but here we go.
How’s this for grey? This giant arrow is in Riverside:
Some buildings. This former International House of Pancakes in Northridge:
Buena Park High School (in Buena Park):
The San Pasqual Apartments in Pasadena:
City Hall in Carson:
A recently adapted Alta-Dena Dairy building in Tustin:
The Bay Theatre in Seal Beach undergoing restoration:
Here’s what it looked like back in 2017:
Some statues? The police & firefighter memorial in Burbank:
The Fabien Castanier Gallery in Culver City:
Lincoln in Cerritos:
Bigfoot in Silverado:
Moving on to some signs. This pair is in Seal Beach:
This sign is inside the Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine. You have to shoot from the window outside of the building since visitors are no longer allowed. I’m pretty sure this is a replica:
This one is in Lynwood:
A bunch of signs from Pasadena. This spikey thing (pigeon-proofing, I presume but evocative of crown of thorns as well):
Two different cleaning businesses:
The 35-er Club (bar):
Previously neon:
The companion pole sign — a mass-produced Coca-Cola sign (with new text panels but the original oval “thingies” with plastic contents:
Here’s a beat example from Arkansas that I shot where you can see what they really look like:
This cutie is in Los Angeles:
Also L.A. – This huge relief sculpture on the side of the L.A. Times parking garage depicts “The Evolution of Printing” by Tony Sheets in 1989:
These modern airplane signs are on top of signs for the Hanger 28 shopping center in Burbank just a few blocks from the airport:
Pioneer Chicken in Los Angeles:
Some signs at Roscoe’s Famous Deli & Bar in Fullerton:
and inside — what I believe is an Alka-Seltzer statue head:
A Superior Electrical Advertising arrow sign at Joe’s Italian Ice in Anaheim:
This post is getting pretty big so I’ll stop here. I’ll be back soon with some stuff from another roadtest trip to the Bay Area.
After slogging thru all those website updates, it was high time to get out and about. I had planned to take this Presidents’ three-day weekend for a San Diego & L.A. area trip but the weather forecast was crummy (and correct). So, I went last weekend and had glorious sun. I managed to get all the photos up at my website this week.
I have been to the Salton Sea a few times but never explored Bombay Beach — pretty fun. Lots of little art installations include this TV display:
Here’s a sign from the “main drag” (in this tiny town):
I missed the Drive-in but here’s a snip from Google StreetView:
I got a “fruit burrito” at Mary’s Donuts in Lakeside (a fried flour tortilla with fruit inside – I went with lemon). It was a bit overly sweet for me since I rarely eat sugary things these days:
In addition to a giant donut (posted to my Instagram account, with other photos from this mini-trip), Mary’s has a few signs:
The rooftop cow at the Country Market in Morongo Valley has been repainted. That wreath hat must still be there from Christmas:
The former Huish Family Fun Center (now Bullwinkle’s Family Fun Center) in Upland is remodeling and expanding. They plan to have bowling, axe-throwing, a bigger arcade, etc. However, I’m very sad to report that the cute little indoor storybook-themed course from 1972 will be demolished soon for those things:
It was the wrong time of day to shoot this one in San Diego — maybe next time:
The Willcockson House in Indio has been on my to-shoot list for a long time. But it was late in the day and there’s a huge church being built around it with everything fenced off on the gigantic lot. This photo was taken from about a mile away and is best I could do. Maybe when the church is done, I can get closer. Note the concrete parabolic roof:
I posted a shot of the Parkway Bowl in El Cajon over at Instagram but here are a couple of detail shots – the entrance:
And the original lockers inside:
The Mission Bay Visitors Center in San Diego has been restored since the last time I shot it:
This former Dog House restaurant sign is also in San Diego — now advertising for a pet salon and a tattoo/piercing studio. I don’t know if there was a location at this spot or if the sign was brought here from somewhere else.
The chain originated in Youngstown, OH and by the mid-1960s, there were over 220 locations in 33 states. The company went bankrupt in 1968 but there are still a handful of these signs out there. Here are a few vintage photos:
Here’s a cigar store Indian in Monrovia:
I posted a photo of the Dragon Slayer sculpture in Lake Elsinore at Instagram. Here’s a closeup of the guy standing on top of the dragon:
This building in San Diego originally housed the City Dye Works and the arrow sign had text with that name in neon. It originally rotated — I’m not sure if it still does. It has housed a Mexican restaurant since around 2011 and the plastic letters were added then. It now houses the Camino Riviera Mexican restaurant. This paint job was added around 2022:
That’s it for now. I’ll be back with another post in early April after a Central CA & Bay Area trip. Then, there will be a post after another L.A. area & Orange County trip in May. These mini trips are warm-ups for the biggie (five weeks in June/July when I’ll be in the Midwest).
This post is surprisingly short after combing the entire section (more than 500 pages) and finding most of these buildings unscathed this year.
The Crossbridge Church in Pinecrest, FL has been demolished. A much larger church is being built to replace it:
This roof at the Elks Lodge in San Jose, CA…:
… has been remodeled into boring flat roofline. It looks like the sign tower and a little canopy on the side will be preserved. From June StreetView:
and the planned finished product illustration:
The former Bahia Motel in Anaheim, CA is gone now — a big empty lot at StreetView:
This former Fotomat in Anaheim, CA is gone now:
And with that: it’s a wrap! I will be quiet for a while here. There will be some little 3 or 4-day weekend trips in a few months and I’ll post photos then. Those posts will definitely be more positive than these website updates have been! I’ll also be preparing for the big June/July trip to the Midwest (Missouri, Illinois, etc.). Once I get home from that five-week trip as I start adding each day to the website, I’ll be posting here.
Seton Keough High School in Baltimore, MD has been demolished:
This building in Connellsville, PA is gone now:
This whimsical building in Moses Lake, WA has been remodeled into a boring box:
The Clark County Title Company building in Vancouver, WA with its sculpted concrete panels is gone now. The city saved 32 of the panels and put them in storage with plans to display them as public art someday. Some nice vintage photos of the building and panels here:
Some of the panels have been installed here at the Esther St. underpass:
Damn. I was really looking forward to shooting this guy in Oak Park, IL this summer and now it’s gone:
This pair of buildings at the Dual Manor Health Care Center in Cincinnati, OH is gone now:
This former “rotunda branch” bank in Canton, OH will likely be demolished soon for a new development known as O’Jay’s Plaza:
I never got to see the interior but check out the ceiling, the vault, and the terrazzo from the real estate listing before the building was sold. I betcha the teller counter was originally round:
The former Oceanview Motel in Wildwood Crest, NJ:
… will soon be transformed into the monster Madison Resort. It could be worse. At least they are keeping some of the midcentury look:
This Econolodge (former Village Inn) in Battle Creek, MI has been demolished:
These sign poles in Aurora, CO are gone now:
This former Fotomat in Guthrie, OK is gone now:
The mid-century metal slipcover on the Coleman County State Bank in Coleman, TX..:
… has been removed:
The mushroom canopies on this bank in Miami, FL...:
… have been removed:
The facade on this bank in Orlando, FL has been remodeled:
… the rocks on the facade are gone but they built a little planter with rocks for the new sign:
This post is getting mighty long and I’m just getting started with Florida. I’ve been really pounding away here and just have Florida and California in this section to go and then I’ll be DONE with this winter project. Back soon.
This former Imperial 400 Motel in Cedar City, UT is gone now:
So has this one in Richland, WA:
This one in Walla Walla, WA may be next. It is surrounded by chain link fencing:
The former Hyatt Lodge in Thousand Oaks, CA is now — you guessed it — surrounded by chain link. It is being redeveloped as homeless housing:
What I believe were the last two Robo-Wash signs are gone now. I believe their robots that went around the oval tracks and washed your car are also gone. But their buildings with the red and white diamond plastic panels remain. Del Rio, TX:
and Laramie, WY:
The Crown Car Wash on Pico in Los Angeles, CA:
… is closed now and surrounded by fencing:
This funky sign in Costa Mesa, CA (and the carwash with concrete pillars and lanterns):
has been replaced with this:
The University Lodge in Albuquerque, NM:
was built as a Travelodge in 1960:
In 2022, it was renovated as the Hotel Zazz:
The Food Fair in Vacaville, CA:
now houses a Maya Supermarket but still has the mid-century look:
This former Trustmark National Bank in Meridian, MS had been vacant since 2018…:
…in November, it was being renovated as the Cater’s at the Museum restaurant next to the new Children’s Museum buildings.
The nice letters on this building in Asheboro, NC…:
now a golf cart place with a peaked roof:
This motel in Fairfax, VA has been demolished:
It will be replaced soon with something like this:
This post is getting long. Many more midcentury buildings to come.
Here are the remaining two states for this winter project: Illinois and Texas. This beautiful sign in Carmi, IL is gone now:
This one in Danville, IL is gone now:
This store in Glenview, IL closed in 2018. The building and sign are gone now.
This sign in Granville, IL is gone now:
This sign in Nauvoo, IL is gone now:
This sign in Chicago, IL is gone now:
Moving on to Texas. This place in Rosenberg, TX has closed and the sign was covered with red paint:
This sign in Rosenberg, TX has been through a lot. Back when I shot it in 2006, it was pretty much original:
By 2018, the name had changed and more neon was added to tacked-on panels:
In 2020, the name was changed again but the horse and rider’s neon was restored. Fast forward to last year. A new name and all the neon removed. All plastic letters and the horse and rider poorly painted:
This sign in Tyler, TX might be gone now. StreetView shows it missing in late 2022 and early 2023. I tried calling but can’t get through. The poles are still there which gives me hope.
This sign in San Antonio, TX is gone now:
This former Glo Cleaners sign in Dallas, TX is gone now:
This sign is gone now. The building has been remodeled for a veterinary office:
And finally, this muffler-shaped sign in Dallas, TX is gone now. The business is now a Brakes Plus:
With that, I’ll be moving on to the final and biggest section of this project for the next post: mid-century modern buildings. There are more than 500 pages in that one so there will be multiple posts here and it might take me a couple of months to finish.
…has been adapted for the Samish Commons low-cost housing:
Here’s what the sign looked like originally:
This funky sign in Spokane, WA…:
has been replaced with this plastic sign:
This sign in Bolivar, MO is gone now:
This motel in Osage Beach, MO was demolished in 2017. This sign with the revolving door is gone now:
This sign in Poplar Bluff, MO…:
… has — you guessed it — plastic letters now:
This sign in McAlester, OK is blank on one side now and the other side is missing the word “Sales”:
This sign in Nowata, OK is gone now:
This sign is what replaced it and the building has been painted a complementary dark grey – ick:
This sign and all of the buildings in Grants, NM are gone – just the three sign poles left:
This long-abandoned sign in Roswell, NM is gone now:
The downtown Albuquerque, NM Peoples Flowers location closed and this sign is gone now:
The remains of the Flag Pole Liquor sign in Akron, OH are gone now. Here’s my photo from 2011. I suspect that it was a Norge Village Cleaners “Norge Ball” originally and then painted to look like a burger.
These signs in Bryan, OH are gone now:
That’s enough for now. Just 3 states to go for the signs section but they are biggies. Back soon.
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