I just got in the negative for this photo- the Camden Diner. The diner was located at the corner of Howard and Pratt, by Camden Station. Nothing in the photo still stands, having been redeveloped for the convention center and for Camden Yards. The photo was taken on June 19, 1948. The diner doesn’t seem to have lasted long under this name, I can only find records of it as such from the late 1940s through early 1950s.
This former Little Tavern is located at the corner of 6th and Morse St., NE Washington, DC. It is now a Subway. Despite having lost its distinctive color scheme and signage, the exterior still looks as though it is fairly in tact. Washington #24 appears to have been built c.1948. It stands to reason that No. 27 dates from the late 1940s or early 1950s. I will try to find more documentation regarding the exact date of construction.
For pictures from 1988, taken while it was still operating as a Little Tavern, please click here.
For a in the process list of all Little Tavern locations, click here.
The Vale-Rio diner was built in 1948 by Paramount. We took these photos before it closed, the site now the location of a Walgreens. It’s now in storage in Pennsylvania. A drawing of it was featured on poster for an early 1990s Society for Commercial Archaeology conference.
Photo source: www.agilitynut.com
Signage- backlit plastic
Pink painted roof, pink pavement
For photos of the move, look at dcsaint’s photostream on Flickr.
This was my first real diner trip in a while. I met up today with Mike Engle, author of Diners of New York; the man behind NYdiners.com, and roadside buff and frequent Zippy the Pinhead contributor Ed Engel at the American City Diner, and headed out from there.
The first stop of the day was the American City Diner of 5532 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC. It’s a late ’80s Kullman, one of the early retro-styled diners, and one of the ones that did it right. For some photos as it appeared when new, click here. Since then, it’s been added on to, with a large side addition, and a front porch which obscures everything to the left of the vestibule.
The Left side of the diner- 2009
The left side of the diner – 1989
The former Howard Theater. Great rusty marquis on this one.
The now abandoned Wonderbread / Hostess Factory
Ran into a little excitement along the way between these two stops, but all’s well that ends well.
Northeast Academy of Dance Neon sign. Look at the detail at the left hand corner of the sign.
We hit up the Capital City Diner, which was moved here on the 20th. Watch the video of it being moved. This Silk City, formerly of Avoca New York, has made its way to the Trinidad neighborhood of Northeast DC.
Photos at its original location and some backstory can be found at :A Real Historic Diner Coming to DC!
This next leg of the trip had some neat neon and signage
A&R Auto Parts
Syd’s Drive In / Liquor
Cross Roads
Tesst theater
Hyattsville Hardware / Franklin’s
Calvert House
Silver Spring’s old Canada Dry bottling plant
A quick stop at the Silver Spring Tastee was made.
Now
Then
More old photos can be found here.
Then a side trip to Forest Glen, parts of which have deteriorated greatly since my last visit.
Dinner at the Tastee Diner in Bethesda
Then
And the trip’s final stop at Bethesda’s former Little Tavern. A 1990 photo of it, when it was still a Little Tavern, can be found on the Diner Hotline.
I took these photos Trail Diner, Rt 11, New Milford, PA. back in 2004. It’s a c.1948 Mountain View. At that point it was pretty beat up with wood repairs done to the stainless and what appeared to be garbage bags covering the windows. I believe it was out of business at that point, though there were cars in the parking lot. As of 2013, it was looking about 9 years the worse for wear.
The Triangle Diner- a 1948 O’Mahony, where Patsy Cline once worked. We visited it, and took these pictures several years ago when it was Lynette’s Triangle Diner
As you can see from the postcards, it went through several neon signs and vestibules over the years, which changed the look of the diner considerably. Eventually it was covered with dark wood, though much of the stainless can still be seen. A great, working vertical diner neon sign and clock is still in the parking lot. The windows still read air conditioned. Inside, the diner is a time warp to sixty years ago.
The diner is currently for sale. The listing can be found here.
The diner and addition have 1290 square feet, the lot is 6875 square feet. The diner seats fifty people.
The current price for the diner and property is $459,000.
The Triangle Diner is found at:
27 West Gerrard Street, Winchester, VA.
Diner Hunter 