Every historic building has a story to tell
The greatest roadside attraction of the early 20th century is for sale!* Wigwam Village, the quirky, kitschy, and delightful motor court with steel frame and concrete sleeping rooms in the shape of tepees, is on the market. I may be a bit biased about the appeal of Wigwam Village, as I am a fan of (read more)
Many, many years ago, I spent the summer working on a road project north of Pittsburgh. Don’t be fooled – while those words may conjure up visions of a highway crew and heavy equipment, I was doing what architectural historians do – armed with clipboard and camera, and recording any buildings older than 50 years (read more)
Categories: Other Places, Roadside architecture
On the north side of Hazard, a large goose holds court along the road, a nest she has maintained for almost 80 years. The Mother Goose House, built by George D. Stacy between 1935 and 1940, is one of my favorite pieces of roadside architecture in Kentucky. Words fail to express how excited I am (read more)
Last week, I shared an article on Gardens to Gables Facebook page about Parker’s Dairy Palace in New Castle, Delaware, recently listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 1954 building, with its tilted ice cream cone neon sign, not only made me consider having ice cream for lunch, but piqued my curiosity about (read more)
I’m fascinated by mid-century American motels – complete with motor court, a fun name, and ideally, an appealing neon sign. These standalone motor courts are cool, but what’s really intriguing are the few examples I’ve seen of mid-century motels built around a historic 19th century house. Maybe it’s the juxtaposition between the large single family (read more)
A giant silver coffee pot on the side of the road possesses a certain sort of magic, almost certainly the power to encourage drivers to conduct a hasty U-turn to make sure that what they saw was, yes – a building shaped like an enormous coffee pot. The metal clad, round building, with an attached (read more)
There are any number of attractions that cause me to pull my car over and hop out with my camera – historic corner gas stations being near the top of the list. I’ve photographed the ones I know of in Lexington (my favorite is in the Woodland Triangle – now Missy’s Pies, during my father’s (read more)
Ever since my first trip out west in 2008, when I tormented my family with requests to stop and photograph old motels, gas stations, and historic neon, I’ve been enamored of roadside architecture. I am far from the only fan, and numerous websites and apps will ply you with oddities and curiosities to see along (read more)
My parents inflicted a succession of ugly, misshapen station wagons upon us hapless children during my formative years. The one I remember most vividly was a putrid shade of pale yellow, appeared longer than a school bus, and was known as “the Tank.” It was in the Tank (the way back- station wagons in those (read more)
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