Historic Cogar gas station owners search for stolen sign
From News9: COGAR, Okla. – The owner of a historic Oklahoma business needs the public’s help. A classic sign of this old gas station in Caddo County was stolen. The family said the building may be abandoned, but its significance has stood the test of time.
In general, most people breeze past a piece of Oklahoma history along State Highway 152. It is a sign of the old times that serves as a compass for the people who call Cogar home.
“It was built in the 1920s,” said Cheryl Lockstone, whose family owns the historic gas station in Cogar. “This was their landmark. They knew where to turn north onto thirty-seven.”
Doc’s Houston jazz venue sets opening date in historic Tower Theatre
Doc’s Houston is located at 1201 Westheimer Rd. in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood. Photo taken Nov. 6, 2025. Kyle McClenagan/HPM
From Houston Public Media: A new jazz venue occupying the historic Tower Theatre building in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood is set to host a soft opening next Tuesday.
Doc’s Houston is the second jazz club venture undertaken by jazz pianist Brent “Doc” Watkins, who opened Jazz, TX in San Antonio nine years ago. The 11,000-square foot venue in Houston was designed by Card and Company Architects in San Antonio and is styled in the fashion of the “golden era of supper clubs.”
The Montrose jazz venue is the centerpiece of development company Radom Capital’s 1111 Westheimer renovation project. Watkins announced the plans to renovate a portion of the Tower Theatre into a jazz club in October 2024. The location had been vacant since the Acme Oyster Houston closed in December 2023.
66 Stories from Route 66 to capture history of Amarillo’s portion of the Mother Road
Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas (Source: Jim Livingston)
From KFDA: A new project is aimed at capturing the living history of Amarillo’s portion of the Mother Road ahead of the National Route 66 Centennial Celebration in 2026.
66 Stories from Route 66 seeks to unite local residents, business owners, and historians with the next generation of storytellers through two distinct, fully-supported application calls.
The initiative is led by Blank Spaces Murals and 2892 Miles To Go, with support of Visit Amarillo, Center City and the City of Amarillo.
Rochester city council preserves historic district status for three downtown buildings
From KTTC: ROCHESTER, Minn. — Rochester city leaders quasi-judicially rejected a developer’s request to remove three century-old buildings on 2nd St. SW from the city’s historic district.
The Rochester City Council voted 6-1 to maintain historic protections for the Olmsted County Bank & Trust building, the Brackenridge building, and Odd Fellows Hall. All three structures were designated as contributing to the city’s commercial historic district less than two years ago.
Capital Ventures, owner of the Olmsted Bank and Trust building, requested the historic designation be removed from all three due to financial hardship. The developer wanted to build condos and a hotel on the properties.
The company argued the buildings are not historically significant enough, do not generate revenue, and would cost millions to repair.
What’s Underneath the Barthman Sidewalk Clock in NYC?!
Historical Image Courtesy of William Barthman Jewelers
From Untapped New York: The Barthman Sidewalk clock has been keeping time underneath New Yorkers’ feet for over 100 years. This quirky piece of sidewalk ornamentation has long fascinated the Untapped New York team, and this fall, our Chief Experience Officer, Justin Rivers, and Director of Content, Nicole Saraniero, got to see its inner workings from below the sidewalk and meet the master jeweler who keeps the clock ticking!
Jeweler William Barthman first installed a sidewalk clock at Maiden Lane and Broadway in 1899 as a clever marketing stunt to draw customers into his Manhattan store (established in 1884 at 174 Broadway). The original clock was a rectangular “jump” clock created by employee Frank Homm.
You Can’t Make a Jersey Movie Without the Diner
A special Springsteen-decorated guitar hangs on the wall of Roberto’s Freehold Grill. Scott Rossi for The New York Times
From The New York Times: When it comes to diners, New Jersey is in a class by itself.
The website Eater once proclaimed it “the Diner Capital of the Country.” That most Jersey of television shows, “The Sopranos,” set its enigmatic finale in a diner, with Tony and the family gathered in a red Leatherette booth. Even Barry Levinson’s 1982 film “Diner,” which was set in Baltimore, was shot in a diner that was trucked down from New Jersey.
So it was only natural that “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,” the new biopic about one of New Jersey’s most famous sons, Bruce Springsteen, would use the diner as a cinematic device — a theatrical stage where he lives and watches life unfold.