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

[thenetwork]

I'm looking to compile a list of small towns along interstates that still have more Mom & Pop Gas-Food-Lodging facilities than major chain locations.  Gas stations may be the exception as most gas stations are 21st century era, but I am looking for towns or exits that have that 50s, 60's or even 70's feel -- whether it's an abundance of original neon signage, 40+ year old structures or whatever -- it should be catering more to the travelers than to the locals.

Here is a couple to start:

1) Breezewood (the obvious of the bunch).
2) Idaho Springs, CO along I-70 -- their main drag downtown is busting to the gills with old buildings filled with shops & restaurants and the majority of the Motels are mom & pops.  Very little new development over the last 20-30 years.

Others??

[briantroutman]

1) Breezewood (the obvious of the bunch).

Huh? 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.

[AlexandriaVA]

I don't think you're going to really find many "service towns" in the East simply because you're never far away from another town or city, unlike the West where you can go for a long time between civilization.

*****
Greyhound's buses used to make meal stops in Breezewood at the "Post House". Even nowadays, the DC-Pittsburgh run includes a 20-minute stop near Breezewood (Midway Plaza). Post House was a chain of Greyhound owned (or affiliated) restaurant designed to serve Greyhound customers around meal times. The one in Breezewood shut down in 2004 (http://www.post-gazette.com/frontpage/2004/06/27/Breezewood-s-Post-House-is-closing-its-doors/stories/200406270150) I think now most meal breaks take place at fast food "restaurants" or truck stops.

[AlexandriaVA]

Keyser's Ridge truck stop at I-68 & US-40 south of Uniontown.

[jakeroot]

Cle Elum, Washington has plenty of fast food joints on the west side of town (and a Safeway), but the main street is full of classic shops from the pre-freeway days. It's the main stopping point before going west over Snoqualmie Pass, so the city still stays busy to this day, particularly when the pass is closed. Going east, it's a nice restroom break before Ellensburg, so it gets good use that direction as well.

[GCrites]

Greyhound's buses used to make meal stops in Breezewood at the "Post House". Even nowadays, the DC-Pittsburgh run includes a 20-minute stop near Breezewood (Midway Plaza). Post House was a chain of Greyhound owned (or affiliated) restaurant designed to serve Greyhound customers around meal times. The one in Breezewood shut down in 2004 (http://www.post-gazette.com/frontpage/2004/06/27/Breezewood-s-Post-House-is-closing-its-doors/stories/200406270150) I think now most meal breaks take place at fast food "restaurants" or truck stops.

Thanks for the Post House link. My 8th grade class stopped there in 1993 on our way to D.C. and I was wondering about its current status. A fun impromptu Street Fighter II tournament broke out during our stop.

[Pete from Boston]

The best-preserved locations of this era are largely faded for the same economic reasons that they were preserved–lack of demand.

The closest things I know to what you're looking for are areas superseded by Interstates.  The Berlin Turnpike in Connecticut, for example, has several dozen motels in fifteen miles, an excessive number for its location, dating back to an era when this was a through route from New York to Boston.  Not many retain their historic look, but their presence tells a story.

[AlexandriaVA]

Greyhound's buses used to make meal stops in Breezewood at the "Post House". Even nowadays, the DC-Pittsburgh run includes a 20-minute stop near Breezewood (Midway Plaza). Post House was a chain of Greyhound owned (or affiliated) restaurant designed to serve Greyhound customers around meal times. The one in Breezewood shut down in 2004 (http://www.post-gazette.com/frontpage/2004/06/27/Breezewood-s-Post-House-is-closing-its-doors/stories/200406270150) I think now most meal breaks take place at fast food "restaurants" or truck stops.

Thanks for the Post House link. My 8th grade class stopped there in 1993 on our way to D.C. and I was wondering about its current status. A fun impromptu Street Fighter II tournament broke out during our stop.

Ah yes the ubiqutious dc 8th grade field trip. They're still a big thing around here.

[jeffandnicole]

It's not off an interstate, but Wildwood, NJ along with other NJ Shore towns have an impressive array of lodging and restaurants that are owned by mom-and-pops.

[wphiii]

You might find some of what you're looking for in a number of old Route 66 towns, especially in Arizona and New Mexico. Williams, Winslow, Holbrook, Gallup, Santa Rosa, Tucumcari, etc. Green River, UT is another good one.

But yeah, east of the Mississippi, "service" hasn't been a primary reason for the existence of too many towns for 200+ years, so they're harder to find. There are a few places that have really tried to feed into their history as a way-point along some former long distance route (albeit greatly predating the era the OP was asking about). There are a handful of these along the Old National Road in Maryland, like Ellicott City, Middletown, Boonsboro, to name some. Middleburg, VA is another one.

And then there are some towns that were at one time "vacation spots" for the wealthy, often because their elevation made them cooler in the summer. Oakland, MD and Ligonier, PA, are a couple of instances of that sort of thing.

[DandyDan]

1) Breezewood (the obvious of the bunch).

Huh? 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.

What year is this pic?  There's a BP and an Amoco.

[Pete from Boston]

1) Breezewood (the obvious of the bunch).

Huh? 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.

What year is this pic?  There's a BP and an Amoco.

Never mind that–there's a Howard Johnson's and an Atlantic.

[SteveG1988]

1) Breezewood (the obvious of the bunch).

Huh? 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.

What year is this pic?  There's a BP and an Amoco.

Never mind that–there's a Howard Johnson's and an Atlantic.

I'd say maybe 1995? Most of the vehicles are 80s boxes, the cabovers clue me into it being an early 90s scene as by the late 90s the cabover died out.

[Pete from Boston]

If it's 1995, the $1.18 gas is the equivalent of $1.84 today, not that far off the lower end of recent gas prices.  Really puts things in perspective.

[keithvh]

You might find some of what you're looking for in a number of old Route 66 towns, especially in Arizona and New Mexico. Williams, Winslow, Holbrook, Gallup, Santa Rosa, Tucumcari, etc. Green River, UT is another good one.

I made a pit-stop in Lordsburg, New Mexico a few months ago.  I think this town definitely qualifies for what the OP is looking for.

Even today there are only a couple chain hotels.  There are more mom-and-pop hotels then chain hotels.  All those mom-and-pop hotels tend to be on the town's main drag, and there are actually just as many shuttered mom-and-pop hotels versus still open mom-and-pop hotels. 

The town's main drag, not coincidentally, is named "Motel Drive."

[jakeroot]

If it's 1995, the $1.18 gas is the equivalent of $1.84 today, not that far off the lower end of recent gas prices.  Really puts things in perspective.

It's funny how often people forget about inflation when viewing fuel prices from the "old days". Everything was "cheaper" back then.

[briantroutman]

What year is this pic?  There's a BP and an Amoco.

I'm thinking early '90s, maybe even 1990 or 1991. The newest-looking vehicles in the picture–like the Metro turning onto I-70 or the Eldorado pulling out from next to Hardee's–look like they could be roughly '89-'90 models. I don't see anything newer than that.

And according to orangeroof.org, the Howard Johnson's restaurant was retained by Marriott until 1991 when they sold it to FAI (the franchisor that killed the remnants of the HJ restaurant chain during the '90s), and FAI cashed in the real estate shortly thereafter.

[Pete from Boston]

2) Idaho Springs, CO along I-70 -- their main drag downtown is busting to the gills with old buildings filled with shops & restaurants and the majority of the Motels are mom & pops.  Very little new development over the last 20-30 years.

This is a little sad to read.  I drove through there exactly once and glancing off at that exit thought to myself that it looked like exactly that, and I was aching to pull and confirm this up close off but had to keep going. 

At least I was right, and at least it's still there.

[wphiii]

This is a little sad to read.  I drove through there exactly once and glancing off at that exit thought to myself that it looked like exactly that, and I was aching to pull and confirm this up close off but had to keep going. 

At least I was right, and at least it's still there.

Fortunately, the terrain there makes it so that significant out-building of large-footprint chain hotels and restaurants would be nearly impossible.

[SectorZ]

What year is this pic?  There's a BP and an Amoco.

I'm thinking early '90s, maybe even 1990 or 1991. The newest-looking vehicles in the picture–like the Metro turning onto I-70 or the Eldorado pulling out from next to Hardee's–look like they could be roughly '89-'90 models. I don't see anything newer than that.

And according to orangeroof.org, the Howard Johnson's restaurant was retained by Marriott until 1991 when they sold it to FAI (the franchisor that killed the remnants of the HJ restaurant chain during the '90s), and FAI cashed in the real estate shortly thereafter.

The Buick Roadmaster/Chevy Caprice wagon seen from behind is a 1991 to 1996 model, so it safely has to be at least fall 1990 or beyond at a minimum.

[Pete from Boston]

What year is this pic?  There's a BP and an Amoco.

I'm thinking early '90s, maybe even 1990 or 1991. The newest-looking vehicles in the picture–like the Metro turning onto I-70 or the Eldorado pulling out from next to Hardee's–look like they could be roughly '89-'90 models. I don't see anything newer than that.

And according to orangeroof.org, the Howard Johnson's restaurant was retained by Marriott until 1991 when they sold it to FAI (the franchisor that killed the remnants of the HJ restaurant chain during the '90s), and FAI cashed in the real estate shortly thereafter.

The Buick Roadmaster/Chevy Caprice wagon seen from behind is a 1991 to 1996 model, so it safely has to be at least fall 1990 or beyond at a minimum.

Atlantic left Pennsylvania by 1996.

[noelbotevera]

Back on topic...

US 11 "Miracle Mile", Middlesex, PA - Between the 1 mile gap from I-81 to I-76, tons of diner and chain restaurants remain here.

[1995hoo]

What year is this pic?  There's a BP and an Amoco.

I'm thinking early '90s, maybe even 1990 or 1991. The newest-looking vehicles in the picture–like the Metro turning onto I-70 or the Eldorado pulling out from next to Hardee's–look like they could be roughly '89-'90 models. I don't see anything newer than that.

And according to orangeroof.org, the Howard Johnson's restaurant was retained by Marriott until 1991 when they sold it to FAI (the franchisor that killed the remnants of the HJ restaurant chain during the '90s), and FAI cashed in the real estate shortly thereafter.

I also see an older Kentucky Fried Chicken sign and bucket (behind the Exxon). The chain began the change to "KFC" in 1991, though obviously it wasn't an instant changeover.

[Pete from Boston]

What year is this pic?  There's a BP and an Amoco.

I'm thinking early '90s, maybe even 1990 or 1991. The newest-looking vehicles in the picture–like the Metro turning onto I-70 or the Eldorado pulling out from next to Hardee's–look like they could be roughly '89-'90 models. I don't see anything newer than that.

And according to orangeroof.org, the Howard Johnson's restaurant was retained by Marriott until 1991 when they sold it to FAI (the franchisor that killed the remnants of the HJ restaurant chain during the '90s), and FAI cashed in the real estate shortly thereafter.

I also see an older Kentucky Fried Chicken sign and bucket (behind the Exxon). The chain began the change to "KFC" in 1991, though obviously it wasn't an instant changeover.

I have chores to do and this is an ideal way to avoid them, so, courtesy of Google Maps:

What are they now?

Left Side:

Hardee's:  Still there, new logo
Plaza Motor Lodge:  Currently Best Western Plaza Inn
(diamond arrows):  Family House Restaurant, might still be there
BP:  Still there, new logo, apparently without the Black Bear Steakhouse Restaurant
Gulf:  Now Sheetz
Howard Johnson's: now Your Game Bar and Grille
Econo Lodge:  now Gateway Conference Center Holiday Inn Express
KFC:  still there
Exxon:  no longer Exxon, Exxon logo covered up between 2009 and 2014
Amoco:  now Valero (Amoco was bought out by BP in 1998)


Right Side:

Atlantic:  now Starbucks
Pizza Hut:  still there, new logo, red roof painted brown between 2009 and 2014
Sunoco:  still there, new logo
Texaco:  now Shell
Museum and Gift Shop:  still there, not much of a museum when I was last there
Knights Inn: now Econo Lodge
Ramada Inn:  closed

Quite a bit of this varied between 2009 and 2014, which are the years of most recent Street View photos.  It's making me regret not stopping into independent places like the Black Bear more.

[wphiii]

Quite a bit of this varied between 2009 and 2014, which are the years of most recent Street View photos.  It's making me regret not stopping into independent places like the Black Bear more.

Yeah, it's dramatically different today even from what it was 6 years ago. I believe the Super-Sheetz is now on the footprint of the Family House and the old Sheetz (old old Gulf) site remains unoccupied. I want to say the BP is now a Shell, too, but I could be misremembering that.