Where did San Diego County’s roadside motor lodges go?
Scandia Motel, at 2550 Carlsbad Blvd. (Photo courtesy of the motel.)
From the Times of San Diego: A city directory can tell you where a motel stood. A postcard can show you what it looked like. A photograph can put it back on the street for a moment.
The harder question is what happened afterward.
Across San Diego County, roadside motor lodges were built around a simple idea: Travelers arrived by car, pulled into a convenient parking space and stayed close to the road.
Keeping Los Angeles Aglow: The People Behind Los Angeles’ Neon Signs
Neon Beckons from the Santa Monica Pier. Photo by web4camguy
From LA Magazine: As Angelenos turn off lights in their homes at night, the outside world remains aglow thanks to the city’s neon signs.
For many years, Los Angeles claimed to have produced the first neon sign in the world. Long thought to be the pioneer of neon signage, L.A. car dealer Earle C. Anthony installed two large script neon signs reading “Packard” in 1923. Though recent research reveals the first true neon sign was born in Newark, New Jersey, the city still embraces neon signage as a symbol of L.A. culture.
One business known as Signmakers L.A. works to preserve, restore and create the neon signs the city is known for. From graduation banners to major preservation projects, the group is Los Angeles’ main contact for signage in any form.
I explored an abandoned resort town in the Great Smoky Mountains, where the wealthy vacationed a century ago
Information about the history at Elkmont Historic District. Joey Hadden/Business Insider
From Business Insider: Elkmont Historic District was once a Tennessee ghost town. Now, 16 cabins have been preserved and restored, and are open to the public. Take a look.
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The last thing I expected to find in Great Smoky Mountains National Park was a resort town.
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It was abandoned in the late 1900s, but its 100-year-old cabins still stand.
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I stepped inside the empty vacation homes and found eerie remnants of a past era.
Centerville service station faces uncertain future as community hopes for preservation
From Fox13: CENTERVILLE, Utah — For nearly eight decades, Ron Randall’s Service Station has been a fixture on Main Street in Centerville, serving generations of residents and becoming a local landmark in the process.
But after the death of its namesake owner, the future of the property, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is uncertain.
Workers install vintage W.F. Gormley & Sons neon sign at new Sacramento location
From The Sacramento Bee: John Drury remembered the old days, before society began to value historic neon signs.
Drury is president and CEO of Pacific Neon, which recently spent several weeks restoring W.F. Gormley & Sons’ neon sign, ahead of the funeral home’s move to Land Park from midtown. On Thursday morning, installers for Drury’s company began installing the sign at its new location at 2691 Riverside Blvd.
Coney Island memories: Historic photos of Detroit’s diners
Jerry Abu Hawa, longtime cook at American Coney Island, applies mustard to their famous coney dogs in 2011. Max Ortiz / The Detroit News
From The Detroit News: Browse vintage photos from The Detroit News archives of Metro Detroit’s coney
islands.