I was wondering what places out there were once considered landmarks by motorists that are no longer in business, but when they were they remained in operation for decades.
Red Apple Rest along NY 17 in Southfields, NY was in business for many years. It even survived the NY Thruway as in the previous years NY 17 carried many motorists that I-87 now does at least between NYC and Harriman. US 9 and US 9W carried motorists further north, but many going to vacation in the Catskills used this restaurant as a stopover as it was near halfway between NYC and that particular mountain region. Matter of fact, there were billboards similar to those of South of the Border near Dillon, SC along I-95 for many miles along the original NY 17 before the Quickway and Thruway were built according to relatives of mine. Now I was reading that the place closed for good almost 10 years ago and the building boarded up according to photos on the web.
I have also seen many abandoned road side stands along US 301 between Orangeburg, SC and the GA Line that were killed by I-95 spite that south of Santee, SC US 301 severs from I-95 a great distance. Do not know of them specifically what they were by name, but does anyone know of popular places that served travelers that finally died?
There's a ton of them along old 66, such as Jackrabbit (you are here!) or Cadillac Ranch (was also a landmark along I-40, to be fair, though now moved). Jackrabbit doesn't appear to be a thing now, just a billboard. A few of the old Indian trading posts out that way also seem to have disappeared, despite signs or even building shells remaining.
The Old Man in the Mountain.
Not sure how famous it was outside the region, but for sheer childhood roadtrip nostalgia I'd say the Nut Tree on I-80 nee US-40 between Sacramento and San Francisco. I know it's been "re-born" but it's a shadow of what it was.
Quote from: DTComposer on March 11, 2012, 01:23:38 AM
Not sure how famous it was outside the region, but for sheer childhood roadtrip nostalgia I'd say the Nut Tree on I-80 nee US-40 between Sacramento and San Francisco. I know it's been "re-born" but it's a shadow of what it was.
My mom grew up in Lafayette, in the 1950s. There was no shopping for anything other than groceries in Lafayette or Walnut Creek back then. They'd often go to the Nut Tree rather than over the hill to Berkeley or Oakland, before the third bore of the Caldecott Tunnel was built.
on TCH-20 almost half between Montreal and Quebec City was the Madrid hotel-restaurant, replaced by a restaurant. It was built back when the road was PQ-9 before being upgraded to TCH-20.
I am sure that Route 66 had many as I-40 (and pretty much the whole interstate system) changed the fate of older US Routes and moved traffic away from many places. That is why Breezewood, PA is fighting the direct connection from I-70 to the PA Turnpike all of these years.
Quote from: roadman65 on March 11, 2012, 09:45:26 AM
I am sure that Route 66 had many as I-40 (and pretty much the whole interstate system) changed the fate of older US Routes and moved traffic away from many places. That is why Breezewood, PA is fighting the direct connection from I-70 to the PA Turnpike all of these years.
The second that Breezewood is bypassed, no one will miss it.
Quote from: Stephane Dumas on March 11, 2012, 08:46:00 AM
on TCH-20 almost half between Montreal and Quebec City was the Madrid hotel-restaurant, replaced by a restaurant. It was built back when the road was PQ-9 before being upgraded to TCH-20.
Remember it well.....along with the Dinosaurs! We'd leave the Big O after watching the Expos (also No More) play an afternoon game......and always stopped there for supper (it was tradition) before continuing onto Edmundston for the night on our way back to the Maritimes!
Cadillac Ranch is gone relocated?
Quote from: Steve on March 11, 2012, 01:02:03 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on March 11, 2012, 09:45:26 AM
I am sure that Route 66 had many as I-40 (and pretty much the whole interstate system) changed the fate of older US Routes and moved traffic away from many places. That is why Breezewood, PA is fighting the direct connection from I-70 to the PA Turnpike all of these years.
The second that Breezewood is bypassed, no one will miss it.
That is why. The business owners are afraid of not being missed!
Quote from: hbelkins on March 11, 2012, 05:20:38 PM
Cadillac Ranch is gone relocated?
I don't care how people frown upon LMGTFY, this is just begging for it. http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=cadillac+ranch+relocated
I've never been there, but my brother and dad visited it in 1990. It got moved after they were there. At least it's still adjacent to I-40.
Ship Hotel, US 30 west of Bedford, Pa.
This used to appear on a gas station on Route 9 just east of the Virginia—West Virginia state line. The gas station is still there, but it's been all spruced up and turned into a Liberty station and the sign is no more.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi31.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc378%2F1995hoo%2FRoad%2520sign%2520pictures%2Ffb9871b1.jpg&hash=09dcb308fc052142e34167e39c4d13820d3130ef)
Quote from: roadman65 on March 11, 2012, 06:12:33 PM
Quote from: Steve on March 11, 2012, 01:02:03 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on March 11, 2012, 09:45:26 AM
I am sure that Route 66 had many as I-40 (and pretty much the whole interstate system) changed the fate of older US Routes and moved traffic away from many places. That is why Breezewood, PA is fighting the direct connection from I-70 to the PA Turnpike all of these years.
The second that Breezewood is bypassed, no one will miss it.
That is why. The business owners are afraid of not being missed!
Which certainly seems like an overblown fear.
It's not like there is another oasis of food/fuel/etc services in the area. (The closest exceptions being TPK service plazas and Bedford.)
Quote from: Mr_Northside on March 12, 2012, 03:16:43 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on March 11, 2012, 06:12:33 PM
Quote from: Steve on March 11, 2012, 01:02:03 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on March 11, 2012, 09:45:26 AM
I am sure that Route 66 had many as I-40 (and pretty much the whole interstate system) changed the fate of older US Routes and moved traffic away from many places. That is why Breezewood, PA is fighting the direct connection from I-70 to the PA Turnpike all of these years.
The second that Breezewood is bypassed, no one will miss it.
That is why. The business owners are afraid of not being missed!
Which certainly seems like an overblown fear.
It's not like there is another oasis of food/fuel/etc services in the area. (The closest exceptions being TPK service plazas and Bedford.)
Maybe with the cost of fuel gone up, enough complaints to PennDOT will get the interchange finally done!
Quote from: hbelkins on March 11, 2012, 05:20:38 PM
Cadillac Ranch is gone relocated?
A few years ago, the landowner, Stanley Marsh, felt like growth on the west side of Amarillo was encroaching on the Ranch, so he picked up his Cadillacs and moved them a short distance farther west. Since I left the area, retail/commercial growth along Soncy (west Loop 335) has really picked up. TxDOT even proposed a replacement section of loop farther out on the southwest and west sides of Amarillo--but, of course, the talk about funding it came around to tolling, and not much has been said about a replacement since (even though a few have taken the I-told-you-so tone as they thought Loop 335 should have been built more like Loop 289 in Lubbock).
Mt Gaylor near Winslow, AR. The buildings are all abandoned and the lookout tower is slowly crumbling.
Quote from: Steve on March 11, 2012, 01:02:03 PM
The second that Breezewood is bypassed, no one will miss it.
Man, that's the second time today I've been called "No one"!
Quote from: empirestate on April 12, 2012, 02:46:02 AM
Man, that's the second time today I've been called "No one"!
Reminds me of a local car dealer who started calling himself "Nobody" so when other dealers say "nobody beats our prices", he can say "That's right. I do" or something to that effect.
The spindle of cars featured in Wayne's World no longer stands at the corner of Harlem and Cermak in Berwyn, IL.
Quote from: Steve on March 10, 2012, 11:21:33 PM
Jackrabbit doesn't appear to be a thing now, just a billboard.
this would be news to me. I remember it being an antique/souvenir shop as recently as 2010 or so.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on April 12, 2012, 10:58:25 AM
Quote from: Steve on March 10, 2012, 11:21:33 PM
Jackrabbit doesn't appear to be a thing now, just a billboard.
this would be news to me. I remember it being an antique/souvenir shop as recently as 2010 or so.
Well it seemed to be closed/dead when I went by (not just closed for the day) as of mid-2011...
Quote from: roadman65 on March 24, 2012, 06:58:08 PMMaybe with the cost of fuel gone up, enough complaints to PennDOT will get the interchange finally done!
If fuel costs keep going up, people will drive less which will impact the Highway Trust Fund and less people will be using the Turnpike, so the opposite would happen.
Quote from: Takumi on April 12, 2012, 07:11:21 AM
Quote from: empirestate on April 12, 2012, 02:46:02 AM
Man, that's the second time today I've been called "No one"!
Reminds me of a local car dealer who started calling himself "Nobody" so when other dealers say "nobody beats our prices", he can say "That's right. I do" or something to that effect.
That reminds me of a friend who would always say to everyone "You aint Nothing". So I would reply back to him "You are Nothing"
Quote from: PAHighways on April 13, 2012, 06:54:43 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on March 24, 2012, 06:58:08 PMMaybe with the cost of fuel gone up, enough complaints to PennDOT will get the interchange finally done!
If fuel costs keep going up, people will drive less which will impact the Highway Trust Fund and less people will be using the Turnpike, so the opposite would happen.
Same if vehicles become more fuel-efficient.
There was a large artificial hill near I-35 and Robinson in Norman, OK that was created as the backstop to a firing range during WWII. After I-35 was built, that hill became sort of a landmark as it was one of the first things you'd see coming into the main part of Norman from Oklahoma City. It even received a name, Mount Williams. Unfortunately the land got bought out by Target, and the hill was removed. The access road for the Super Target was named Mount Williams Drive for the hill, though.
The Flagship Hotel in Galveston, TX. When I was checking googlestreetview out, I saw it on there as it was not there when I visited Galveston a few weeks ago. I wanted to actually see the amusment park that I saw that now sits where the resort once stood. Also, I have never seen a hotel built over the sea before and when I saw it first, I thought that I was seeing things as it was not there in person.
I learned later that it was a hotel that was built in 1965 that was severely damaged by Hurrican Ike in 08. It was later demolished by the owner as consideration for its demolition was already contiplated months before the deadly storm hit the area.
Nonetheless, it was a landmark and most likely one of a kind as I do not think anywhere there is a hotel built out over water except maybe in the Coral Sea with the floating hotel miles from land that I once read about.