Lebanon repeals neon sign ban after community pushback from a beloved local diner
From WKRN: LEBANON, Tenn. — Snow White Drive In’s neon sign has glowed since the 1950s, but in recent weeks, it nearly went dark. It was caught up in a city ordinance banning neon signs.
On Tuesday night, the fight ended. In a tie-breaking vote, Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell sided with some councilmembers to repeal the ordinance, which completely reversed the decision the same council had passed earlier this spring.
‘Ghost signs’ haunt downtown Durango”
The Smelter National Bank sign, on the west side of the Newman Building at 813 Main Ave. and above The Garage at 121 W. Eighth St., is seen on Aug. 14, 2024. It is one of Durango’s oldest and best-preserved ghost signs – its exact date of origin unknown. Smelter National Bank operated from 1892 to 1897, with its downfall beginning during the Panic of 1893. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
From the DH News: Durango, Colorado, has been through many changes since its founding in 1880, but its colorful past lives on in pastel, sun-kissed markings on buildings along downtown Main Avenue.
Ghost signs – hand-painted advertisements faded by weather and time – are symbols of the boom-and-bust cycles that defined Durango’s early history.
A watchful eye can still spot the promotions of old banks, newspapers and early automobile shops in downtown Durango that long ago closed, moved or changed hands.
Bipartisan bill seeks Route 66 national historic trail designation
Chain of Rocks Bridge in Madison is part of historic U.S. Route 66. Illinois’ Congressman Darin LaHood and Sen. Tammy Duckworth have reintroduced a bill to have Route 66 designated as a national historic trail. mbell/Getty Images
From the Journal-Courier: Illinois’ Congressman Darin LaHood and Sen. Tammy Duckworth have reintroduced a bill to have Route 66 designated as a national historic trail ahead of its centennial in 2026.
The bipartisan and bicameral Route 66 National Historic Trail Designation Act would create the designation, in turn expanding economic and historic development opportunities in the communities and states through which it passes, according to its supporters.
Gilbert’s Restaurant in Chatham, once a safe haven for Black travelers, was almost torn down. Then it received national and state historic designations.
Bob and Sandra Gilbert ran Gilbert’s Restaurant in Chatham from 1973 to 1999. The building was approved for a state highway marker to recognize its historic significance earlier this year. Photo by Grace Mamon
From the Cardinal News: Robert Gilbert was taking out the trash one night at his father’s restaurant in Chatham, Virginia, when two long black Cadillac limousines pulled up.
It was 1960, and he was in his early 20s working at Gilbert’s Restaurant, which had garnered a reputation as a safe haven for Black travelers in the South during the Jim Crow era.
Gilbert watched in awe as the driver of one of the limos opened the back door and out stepped Fats Domino, the iconic singer-songwriter, pianist and pioneer of rock and roll music. Now in his 80s, Gilbert calls this one of the most memorable moments of his life.
The Orange Show Puts Texas’ Roadside Oddities on Miniature Display
Tires map out the shape of Texas. COURTESY THE ORANGE SHOW
From Texas Highways: It’s Aug. 25, and day one of construction of Erika Nelson’s latest art installation has begun. Inside a warehouse in Houston’s East End near Interstate 45, the contemporary artist guides volunteers—most of whom have little to no formal art training—with encouraging directions as they align canvas tarps, rip and stick duct tape in cross formations, and spray hissing blue paint to create outlines of what will eventually be the state of Texas.
You would never feel a hint of pressure or stress watching the novice group work together as Nelson tells them where to tape and overlay tarps, but, from start to finish, they only have three weeks to construct a traversable topographic map of Texas. Nelson is creating a 60-by-60-foot diorama, dubbed the Texas-Sized Roadtrip Diorama Of Wonder, for the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, a foundation that’s celebrated and preserved “outsider art”—works that defy traditional art expectations—since its founding in 1982.
Iconic Newington diner to stay open
From WTNH: NEWINGTON, Conn. — The Olympia Diner in has been a mainstay on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington since the 1950s, known for its iconic neon sign.
A year ago, we reported it was closing to make way for a drive-thru restaurant, but plans have changed.