Section 106 Under Threat
Gay Head Lighthouse. Matha’s Vineyard Museum
From the National Trust for Historic Preservation: The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) is advancing a sweeping and damaging proposal to rewrite the regulations for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). If implemented, these new rules would dramatically diminish the effectiveness of the NHPA and the current legal protections for historic and cultural places.
Since the enactment of NHPA 60 years ago, Section 106 has been the foundational requirement for federal agencies to “take into account” the effects of their actions on historic properties and places, enabling public participation and comment in the process, empowering state and local governments and Tribal communities to have a voice in the process, and often improving the project and enhancing the outcome.
These new regulations will lead to more delays and more litigation as federal agencies and applicants try to navigate compliance without the well-known and well-used consultation process, which often leads to negotiated win-win outcomes. The preservation community and our partners across the country are mobilizing to fight this harmful proposal.
2 Wheels, 14 Days, 2,448 Miles: A Motorcycle Tour of Route 66
From The New York Times: It’s a common refrain that Route 66 no longer exists. And it’s true, in a way. The 100-year-old road that stretches from Chicago to Santa Monica was decommissioned in 1985. You won’t find it listed on modern maps as a contiguous highway.
And yet the 2,448-mile road — at first largely unpaved, then over time populated with so many motels and diners and outlandish attractions that it became central to the American experience, only later to be bypassed, forgotten, left to crumble — somehow endures.
Earlier this year, in celebration of the road’s 100th birthday, I spent 14 days tracing the original path of Route 66 as best I could from Illinois to California — across fresh pavement, old concrete, weathered bricks and even isolated patches of dirt.
Original Route 66 motel sign restored in Lee’s Summit, sign will go to Joplin
From KSHB: Neon played a big role for businesses who were marketing to travelers.
The better the sign, the more your business stood out.
“Just like most cool signs do to me, they just stop you in your tracks and you marvel at the beauty of it, the light, the dimension, the color,” said Fossil Forge co-owner, Dave Eames.
The sign spent more than two decades out of public view before it was found in 2022 in the archive of a private collector who passed away.
Missouri’s lost and lasting Route 66 motels
The historic 1939 Boots Court motel is located at the “Crossroads of America” in Carthage and remains one of the oldest operating motels along the iconic Route 66. Courtesy of Boots Court
From News Press Now: Before the era of cookie-cutter hotel chains and identical highway exits, finding a place to stay along Route 66 was part of the adventure itself. In the early and mid-20th century, Missouri’s stretch of the Mother Road was lined with family-run motor courts, tourist cabins, and neon-lit motels − each with its own story and charm. Travelers ended their long days on the highway by pulling into places like the Wagon Wheel, Munger Moss, or Boots Court, where owners lived on-site, neon signs glowed like beacons, and architecture ranged from stone cottages to sleek Streamline Moderne designs.
Upgraded Abby’s original parlor returns neon sign and salad bar in Roseburg
The iconic neon sign, which welcomed guests throughout the 1960s and 1970s, was discovered a few years ago and has since been restored. As of July 17, 2026, it once again greets customers at the original Abby’s Legendary Pizza parlor in Roseburg, which first opened its doors in 1964. (Photo courtesy Abby’s Legendary Pizza)
From KPIC: ROSEBURG, Ore. — A longtime Roseburg landmark is getting a fresh look — and bringing back a piece of its past.
Abby’s Legendary Pizza is celebrating the completion of an extensive remodel and upgrade of its original Roseburg parlor on Stephens Street, including the return of its iconic neon parking lot sign. The three-day community event starts Monday and runs through Wednesday, featuring special events and discounts.
The renovation was designed to preserve the history of Abby’s original parlor while creating what the company described as a refreshed gathering place for future guests. Updates include a Douglas County history wall, a Roseburg mural, tributes to championship athletic teams from Roseburg High School and Umpqua Community College, new interior finishes throughout, and the return of Abby’s salad bar.
Iconic Loop weather bell to shine again after years in the dark
The old weather bell on the Rector Building at 79 W. Monroe St. is being restored. Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
From the Chicago Sun-Times: There’s a warm nostalgic spot in Chicago’s brick, concrete and glass heart for those big vintage outdoor signs that were once plentiful in this town, especially the signage that told us the time and temperature.
It’s a shame that signs like these have been vanishing from the city’s urban landscape since the 1990s — like the large, red-lipped Magikist carpet cleaning company signs that used to set roadside along the Dan Ryan, Eisenhower and Kennedy expressways.
They exist in our memories, at least.
But we still have the old Bell Federal Savings weather sign that’s stood sentinel at the northwest corner of the Rector Building, 79 W. Monroe St., since the 1950s.
This Cute, Kid-Friendly Wildwood Motel Just Got a Retro Makeover
The Pink Champagne Boutique Motel
From New Jersey Family: If your family vacations in Wildwood, you know the vibe well: bright neon, colorful motels and mid-century-style architecture that takes you back to the 1950s and ’60s. Downtown murals celebrate music icons like Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker, and The Wildwoods By the Sea Doo Wop Experience Museum pays tribute to the town’s rock ’n’ roll roots.
The Pink Champagne Boutique Motel fits right in with that mid-century Doo Wop style. Located on Atlantic Avenue, one block from the beach and the Wildwoods Boardwalk, the motel dates back to 1957 and is known for its neon sign and pink-and-white color palette.
The Wisconsin boneyard where giant fiberglass mascots go to die
FAST Fiberglass Mold Graveyard Credit: Elizabeth Gomez
From the Chicago Reader: Fiberglass isn’t forever, but the apparent corpses in this potter’s field of pop culture detritus will outlast us all. Beginning in 1978 with the 145-foot musky that greets visitors to Hayward, Wisconsin’s Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, the antecedents of the FAST corporation (Fiberglass Animals, Shapes, and Trademarks) built a reputation as a go-to manufacturer of oversize, brightly colored mascots, waterslides, and roadside attractions.
You can spot them all over the world, but they’re particularly prevalent in Wisconsin (try to find a cheese shop without a humungous rodent beckoning you to pull over). Notably, hometown Sparta, the self-styled Bicycling Capital of America, supported its case by commissioning the FAST-fabricated World’s Tallest Bicyclist; the 32-foot Ben Bikin’ sits astride his old-timey penny farthing at the terminus of the nearby Elroy-Sparta bike trail. Along the way, a fiberglass mouse sits in the lot of Carr Valley Cheese.