Tag Archives: Abandoned

The Melody – Livingston, MT

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I’ve been looking now for about two years for an abandoned Silk City diner that is supposedly in storage somewhere outside Livingston. There was a photo on flickr (now gone) of it sticking out behind some trees, and almost no context.  Livingston’s a network of ranches and winding dirt roads.  You could look for a long time and I have. But hey, it’s gotten me onto those roads, and into some unusual places.  Like behind the abandoned Melody on the road to Gardner, with this vintage trailer back behind as what I presume is part of the kitchen.

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The Pony Bar, Pony, Montana

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It’s a bit of a drive out to Pony from Bozeman. B roads out through Norris and Harrison until you come upon the town, nestled in the foothills. My friends and I went a bit further, out to the Potosi campground and hot spring, a truly beautiful and secluded spot. After a night of camping, campfire cooking, and soaking in the natural hot springs, we ventured into Pony for the famed Pony Bar.

Pony was first settled in the 1860s as a gold mining town. It prospered through the early 1920s, boasting electrification before New York City, and at its peak, 5000 residents. After mining ceased being profitable, the town shrank, and in 1920, a fire swept through downtown, burning many of its buildings. By the 1950s, Pony had become a ghost town. The Pony Bar is the last operating storefront. Signs of Pony’s historic wealth are still apparent by the surviving brick structures, namely the Morris Bank.

The Pony Bar
108 Broadway St, Pony, MT 59747
ponybarmontana.com

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Bottles
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Cowboy hats and Copper mugs
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Slots and Taxidermy
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A taste of the town of Pony, Montana
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The Mannequins of South Dakota

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I just got back from a couple of days in South Dakota, hunting for vintage clothing for my store, Vintage Haberdashers, and seeing the sights. SoDak is a land of stunning natural beauty and wonderfully old fashioned tourist traps. These roadside destinations were populated by an amazing array of characters, re-purposed department store mannequins, aging wax figures, secondhand animatronics, and statuary.
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Wall Drug
510 Main St, Wall, SD 57790

Pioneer Auto Museum
503 5th St, Murdo, SD 57559

1880 Town
Interstate 90, Midland, SD 57552

Eastern Shore – Delaware and Maryland

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These pics were sent to me by my friend, Susan Hormuth from a trip she took on the Eastern Shore in April of 1980. I’ll get text up later today.

Tom’s Diner. Route 50?- Easton, MD. Here are some more pictures, taken by Larry Cultrera, of Tom’s, taken about a year after these. Larry’s pictures are the only reference I can find to this one. I assume it must have closed a while ago for that to be the case.
I’ve tried locating the site by looking for the radio towers shown in the background. Rt 50 splits- 50 goes to the East of Easton, 322 (the Easton Parkway) goes to the west. The WEMD radio towers off the Easton parkway seem to look about the same, but the area has grown- all suburban houses and big box stores. If this is the right area, there’s no trace.
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How about that groovy plastic sign over the vestibule? And the freestanding neon’s pretty spectacular.
Green flexglas, stacked roof. Double-wide with factory kitchen and dining room.
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We think this Mountain View was somewhere between Salisbury and Assateague Island. The newspaper box is for a Delaware newspaper, but that would fit that location.
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Diner in Bridgeville, DE. It’s still there and looks to be in about the same shape as it was then. Here’s a picture taken two days ago by Randy Garbin. Here’s a post, with interior pictures, from when it was still operating back in 2005. It’s currently for sale. Call 302-628-8467.
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English’s Diner- Salisbury, Maryland
Here’s a shot of what it looked like when it closed.

I’m not positive which diner these interior shots go with. Anyone recognize it? Want to hazard a guess based on manufacturer and size?
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Barrel Roof- Shady Glen Picnic Grove- PA

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I’m not sure what this was, but it struck me as peculiar so I took some pictures of it. It’s now being used as a picnic shelter, but appears to have had a previous life. My first thought was salvaged roof from an old barrel roof diner, but I’m not sure. The roof itself looks quite a bit older than the poles its on or the footers, and I can’t imagine the amount of custom fabrication it seems went into this being originally done for a picnic pavilion which could have just as easily been wood and shingles.

So what do you think?
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Little Tavern: Washington no. 7

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I went and hunted down the site of Washington No. 7 today, which opened on December 23, 1931. From the size of the tree growing up through the vacant lot, I would say its been gone for a while at this point. The building itself is gone, but the outline of the signature Little Tavern roof is still visible on the wall of the building next door. The brick basement is all still there, covered by a steel framework which I would assume was the floor of the LT. And what’s this I see? Green enameled steel roof tiles? Too bad they’re a story beneath street level and behind a plywood construction fence.

This entire section of G street looks like its waiting to be torn down or otherwise redeveloped. The buildings to the left are all vacant. The Hahn / Florsheim shoe store in the old bank building is also gone, though it seems the National Bank of Washington still occupies it and the buildings seem to have fallen on hard times. For those who don’t know the area, it’s all high priced offices and condos around this cluster.

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The vacant lot

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Next door to the National Bank of Washington

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ghost of an LT

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Sorry for the crappy pic- I may be tall, but the eight foot plywood fence is taller, and getting pictures through the 1/2″ gap between two of the panels just wasn’t happening. This is the steel framing over a brick foundation and basement. Lots of tree going on.

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Rusty green tiles from the Little Tavern green roof.

Washington no. 7 was (is?) located at
1344 G street northwest Washington DC

Grantham Farm / Cashell Farm- Rockville, Maryland

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While out driving around with a friend of mine, we spotted a glimpse of this gem through the trees. Parking the car, we hiked through a good stretch of brambles and came upon this incredible house. Unfortunately, as is so often the case it seems, the light failed on us. Another trip is in order. If not within the next three days, then in the summer, provided it’s still standing then.

The History can be found here.

My buddy Zach, wheelman for this trip, in front of the barn.

The Cashell farm, constructed circa 1860 with a Queen-Anne addition, was previously surveyed by the Maryland- Capital Park and Planning Comission and was designated as a historic site by the M-NCPPC in 1984, in the Master Plan for Historic Preservation. Though the property retains the integrity of its architecture and setting, the buildings suffer from deterioration. The owner of the property has boarded over the first story windows of the main house and has not taken measures to maintain the secondary structures. Since the last survey, at least two wooden barns have collapsed. Two wooden barns, two hay storage buildings, two silos, a tile sided storage building, a garage, a shed, the main house, a stone building and two tenant houses still remain. The outbuildings associated with the main house, as well as the two tenant houses were not mentioned in the previous survey form and a description of these structures follows. The secondary structures of the Cashell farmhouse are in a semi-circle arrangement on the east side of the house. A paved driveway passes the front, or south elevation of the main house, the begins a large curve around to the rear of the main house. Along the south side of the curve are a general-purpose barn, two hay storage buildings and a livestock barn. At the east end of the curve are two tile silos and a 1 story concrete/tile storage building. The north side of the curve has a garage and a shed. To the rear of the main house is a 1-store, side-gable house.

J.H. Cashell (Grantham) Farm- 5867 Muncaster Mill Rd.

The earliest section of the frame Cashell Farmhouse, in the American farmhouse style, was built in the mid 19th century by the Hon. Hazel H. Cashell. His son John H. Added a turriculated, jerkin-headed- Queen Anne block at the end of that century.
Important for its association with the Cashell family as well as the high level of architecture archieved by the hybrid-style building.