This building, the former home of the Chronicle Herald, is currently vacant. It was built after a 1912 fire destroyed the Dennis Building on Granville St.
The Coast says it will be torn down soon, though there are no concrete plans for what is to be built on the site.
A shame to see it go. I plan to go take more pictures before they knock her down.
This blog’s first posts were from this trip, but I never got around to posting the rest of the photos.
I took this trip shortly after graduation in early summer of 2008. We didn’t have any definite stops along the way, but managed to find some amazing old buildings. Architecturally, the area is much as it seems to have been in the early 20th century, although now many of the buildings are abandoned.
Enjoy!
East Side School
Cumberland, MD
Broken vitrolite facade
Republican Club
Abandoned house
No trespassing in the tree.
the b
Driving down the highway outside of Pulaski, VA, we spotted the big neon for this place poking through the trees. I couldn’t get the camera out fast enough to snap it, so we took the exit and drove around a bit, until we found it. The motel is still there, though it’s closed. The restaurant isn’t visible from the road, and it’s on private property, so please don’t go searching for it
The motel was once the Days Inn. The last review of it is dated September, 2008, so it closed fairly recently. The restaurant, however, has been closed and abandoned for a bit longer. It is currently condemned. Going by a class of 1963 35th reunion banner still hanging in the restaurant, it’s safe to say that the place closed in 1998 or so.
It’s a great ’60s colonial Howard Johnson’s type place, with avocado green stools and a great rooftop neon.
Overgrown parking lot
Sandwich Shoppe
Blue Paint
Red paint
Shots of the interior. Sorry about the glare, they’re through the windows.
Counter
Left Side Dining Room.
Inside dining room. The “Forever Young” DHS class of 1963 35th Reunion. Possibly Dublin High School?
Candles and coffee mugs still on the tables. Ceiling is caving in.
Abandoned Road
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.
Abandoned “modern” place in PA
edit: The owner of the Rosedale Diner opened Pizza World after the diner’s closing. The diner was moved to the woods across the street from Pizza World, and was featured on the cover of Hall and Oates’ Album, Abandoned Luncheonette. It no longer exists.
Thanks Larry!
Here’s some shots from this morning.
Great old well kept neon and clock on Pilcher’s Flowers
Robie Food Chop Suey. Old place. The sign sure is to the point.
Video Difference- New, but a neat modern take on some old styles
the UFO of God
Snowman
I paint what I like.
Harold’s Furniture, Lebanon, PA.
Notice that the neon of the sign reads, “Furniture”, while the enamel reads Harolds. Photographed this one on a Lebanon diner trip. Unfortunately, most of the diners from that trip have now either been moved or are closed.
Abandoned Silk Mill, Columbia, PA.
Saw this while driving down the highway on the way to Lancaster. Pulled off at the exit and took some quick snaps in the early morning mist. The roof’s long since caved in, and the entire thing’s fenced off. That’s probably a good idea, it looks about ready to fall down, and I’m sure there are enough people like me out there who are just curious and stupid enough to go in.
This is a fairly massive painting, done on a big piece of plywood. I finished in less than a week, working day and night at the Maryland Summer Center for the Arts at Salisbury University, to get it ready for a show.
Abandoned Travel Trailer, Oatman, AZ
This is just outside tourist trap central, Oatman, Arizona, famous for its wild donkeys. The trailer’s an old model, filled with light wood and broken bottles.
Music Store, Kingman, AZ
Kingman Arizona was the first stop of our Arizona trip. We stayed at a restored hotel across from the railroad tracks, owned by a French gentleman. The town’s a hotbed of neon.
Nash, Cool Springs, AZ
A rusty old nash sitting outside the Cool Springs gas station, on the road from Kingman to Oatman, one of the most beautiful and winding stretches of road you’ll ever have the pleasure to drive.
Gas pump detail (work in progress) Cool Springs, AZ
A detail from a large painting of a mobilgas pump at the Cool Springs Gas Station.
Tiki
Owl Diner – Lowell, MA
The most diner-enthusiast accommodating establishment I’ve visited. Homefries to die for. A great worcester semi-streamliner.
Palace Diner – Maine
Hit the palace while it was closed, but took pictures, and did the drawing. The owner saw this drawing posted on Roadside, and got in touch with me about using it on their menu. Gave to go ahead, and never heard back after that.
Diner – Winslow, AZ
Across the street from LaPosada. Closed.
Diner – Winslow, AZ
It’s still for sale, all these years later.
Motel- Holbrook, AZ – Painting won 2nd place at a Johns Hopkins art competition.
American Owned. Broken windows.
Celebrating my win.
I made a stop at this abandoned barn yesterday. This was my third time being here, and it never disappoints.
Diner Hunter 