Great 50s-60s-70s style "Service Towns" Still In Existence.

[hbelkins]

The overhead for I-70 east is in button copy. And that appears to be a state-named route marker at first glance.

[PHLBOS]

Bold emphasis added:

Even 25 years ago (pictured), Breezewood was largely a town of chain restaurants, motels, and gas stations. There are even fewer non-chain survivors today; almost everything else is a national brand.

For those trying to figure out what year the above-pic was taken; the answer was indirectly given in the post above it. 

2015 - 25 = 1990.

The newest vehicles in the pic are the white Geo Metro and (to the left of it) a maroon 1991 GM B-body (either a Chevy Caprice, Buick Roadmaster Estate or Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser) station wagon (which would've been a brand new car for the fall of 1990); so 25 years ago it is.

[briantroutman]

Bold emphasis added:

Even 25 years ago (pictured), Breezewood was largely a town of chain restaurants, motels, and gas stations. There are even fewer non-chain survivors today; almost everything else is a national brand.

For those trying to figure out what year the above-pic was taken; the answer was indirectly given in the post above it. 

That 25-year number was just a guess on my part, though. I still think it's about right (for the reasons stated in my earlier posts...which you also seem to agree with).

[1995hoo]

I assumed the 25-year reference was an estimate.

[The Nature Boy]

I still remember my first time in Breezewood. I was driving from Michigan to DC and it was at night. I had never heard of Breezewood at that point so I was quite surprised and confused by the bright neon lights in the middle of nowhere. It still feels like a bad acid trip.

[1995hoo]

I still remember my first time in Breezewood. I was driving from Michigan to DC and it was at night. I had never heard of Breezewood at that point so I was quite surprised and confused by the bright neon lights in the middle of nowhere. It still feels like a bad acid trip.

Sounds familiar. I first encountered it as a passenger on a Boy Scout trip to Seven Springs in 1985. We were going up I-70 and then out the Turnpike to Somerset. I didn't know Breezewood was there, aside from having seen the name on BGSs on that trip (the first time I'd ever been in that direction at all) and when we passed the sign warning of a T-intersection ahead I thought the sign must be erroneous because we were on an Interstate. Funny thing was, when we went through there late one night going the other way in August 1986 coming back from a family vacation around Ontario (we took the I-90/I-79 route home from Toronto), my parents were astonished and had the "WTF is this" reaction. They didn't know it was there either and I hadn't told them.

[Pete from Boston]

I still remember my first time in Breezewood. I was driving from Michigan to DC and it was at night. I had never heard of Breezewood at that point so I was quite surprised and confused by the bright neon lights in the middle of nowhere. It still feels like a bad acid trip.

Probably just a few years after this photo, I had left North Jersey in the early afternoon, fought my way out of Greater New York through heavy traffic, and finally settled into my first drive down the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  Somewhere along the way I passed this decrepit, decades-old sign that said "Town of Motels" and I couldn't resist.  It was indeed trippy, but I never thought of it as a bad trip.  There's not much else to look at as it gets dark along the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  I had no idea for several years that there was any infamy attached to it.  It's still a required stop for me.

[BamaZeus]

The gasoline being sold is just over a dollar per gallon, which would also match that general time frame.

[TravelingBethelite]

I also remember my first visit, a few years ago. I had read about it before, and so I was hyped up about it. Fortunately/unfortuneatly (however you see it), I arrived about 1:00 PM. I did snap a picture on this ancient mileage sign headed east (south) out of Breezewood:

[TEG24601]

I just pulled up the street view, and while some of what has been reported is accurate, it is has changed.


It appears that the there is a Flying J between where the Atlantic is, and the ramp to/from I-70.  The BP is now a Shell, but so is the Texaco.





2014:
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9994533,-78.2385062,3a,75y,60.11h,88.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sTCBHW10iCW4DL3Me7yT8Og!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1


If you go too far west, it reverts to 2009, but it was interesting to see some updated imagery.

[wphiii]

I still remember my first time in Breezewood. I was driving from Michigan to DC and it was at night. I had never heard of Breezewood at that point so I was quite surprised and confused by the bright neon lights in the middle of nowhere. It still feels like a bad acid trip.

Coming in the Turnpike or U.S. 30 from the east at night, there's a moment when you come over the last ridge before Breezewood and are treated to a sudden, expansive view of the neon oasis, almost like a miniature Las Vegas. It's definitely very surreal.