Drive-By Photos 27
Not much has changed in the close to five years it has been since I last took pictures here. The only major difference is the removal of their iconic roadside sign.
An update to this photo. The siding has been stripped off, the property next door has been razed, and something appears to be in the works. More recently, framing went up for an addition on the side with the windows.
This was supposed to be a picture of the Sunoco, but the light turned green for the traffic going in the other direction, and I caught a horse and buggy going by. (I know I shouldn't be taking pictures while driving, but at least it was at a red light!) Even though the Sunoco is not exactly easy to see, I loved how this picture came out. Even though Parkesburg is still Chester County, it is close to the Lancaster border, so this isn't a terribly uncommon sight. Ten miles down the road, these buggies outnumber cars!
Verizon moved out in late 2015, relocating to a former Wendy's in Gap. This has since been demolished to make way for a CVS. You can see what it looked like in 2013 here.
Looking at the thankfully unmodified front of the store. In the remodels, drop ceilings were put in to match the ceiling heights when the window got walled off.
I really like the 60's colonial design here. Based on personal experience, architecture like this on a diner generally seems to indicate good food. I have to think of a reason to get out here again so I can try this place out.
Each of these cabooses serves as a motel room. The owner of the hotel bought several of these at an auction because of a dare, and, not knowing what else to do with them, formed a motel. Over the years, they have expanded and made the rooms a little more upscale. It is a fun place to stay, and one of the numerous things that keep the Lancaster area wacky.
Strasburg Railroad used to be a local passenger line, but now serves mainly as a tourist destination. You can still ride the trains, but they just go in a loop. I have always enjoyed going here.
I knew that facade looked familiar! It must have been some chain's design, although I have no idea what. I know there are at least three of these buildings, and am dying to know what they were!
I took this picture thinking this was an old ACME. After looking into it, it appears I was wrong. Say what you will about how bland today's stores are, but I think they outdo stores like this. Nonetheless, a building of that vintage that is completely original is still a neat find.
Gabe's opened up relatively recently in the old Kmart space. Kmart was still operating here in late 2013, as you can see in the background of my picture of the Howard Johnson's.
Arco/Starbucks, Lancaster, PA
This looks like a 70's built station. I'm not sure if Sunoco took this one, but I imagine it was something else between the late 80's and when Starbucks opened about a decade ago.
I think this is a freshly harvested tobacco field. I liked how it looked in the fog.
This looks like one of the last ones to be built before the new design was rolled out, probably around 2004.
I didn't think Amelia's ever built their own stores, but this would seem to prove otherwise. It opened in the mid-00's, and was rebranded when Grocery Outlet bought the chain. This picture is a little misleading, the store is not nearly as big as the picture makes it look. See here for what it looked like as Amelia's.
I was surprised to learn this was a chain of malls, with a total of 42 locations in the US and Canada.
Much like with Waffle House, we have to come all the way down here if we want a Pizza Hut we can eat inside. That isn't quite worth the drive. I wish they would stop downgrading these to takeout-only.
Wawa closed here in 2008 after about 10 years of decent business. Why they pulled the plug is anyone's guess. Lancaster Food and Gas opened up shortly afterwards and closed in 2013. They left the "Lancaster" sign up, but removed the lower part. A mobile home dealer has been using the parking lot as extra storage space. MJBarnes has a fantastic picture of this place from 2014.
Being a Philadelphia company, I'm led to believe that this is Urban Outfitters main center. It opened its doors not long before I took this picture.
There used to be an Amoco on the site adjoining McDonald's (Possibly part of that partnership they had?). BP closed this location when they bought it, and it sat vacant and fenced off until last year. It was razed in order to build a Rt. 30 bypass, along with an abandoned Texaco/Citgo across the street, and a pizza restaurant.
This looks like an older location that was expanded in the 90's. Based on the amount of construction going on around it and how this place hasn't been updated since the 90's, I will hazard a guess that this place is about to see some major change.
Verizon moved up here from Parkesburg last year. I would say this made for a rather interesting conversion. I'm pretty curious to see what they did inside, since it appears not much has changed outside. Wendy's was closed by 2008, so this spent quite a bit of time sitting empty.
My favorite thing about this restaurant (besides the food, which is excellent) is the décor. They have compiled a ton of local photographs and put them on the walls. The building seen in the middle is the former Williams Deluxe Cabins. The sign seen in the upper right corner was the recently removed Pizza World roadside pylon. I can't figure out which shopping center is shown below that.
The new façade's structure has been completed, although 9 months later I still don't think they have the white part finished. This remodel is taking longer than it took to build the place originally!
Chili's reopened in December. For the most part it looks the same but with new paint. I'm pretty sure there was a window above the doors that they walled in. The new logo looks way too small.
Gap takes up a couple different storefronts here.
These people really went all-out in decorating. Apparently this house was covered on one of those TLC Christmas decoration competition shows.
This was built in the 60's as a hotel/restaurant combo. Even though the restaurant is long gone, the hotel still operates as a HoJo. The restaurant, which I unfortunately didn't get a picture of, is now Michael's Diner. It doesn't have the signature orange roof or Cupola anymore.
Not much going on in the lake in late December.
Like the Starbucks shown earlier, this Panera was also a fitting conversion for this old building.
Woolworth operated here for a very long time (sources say up to 60 years), before closing with the chain. It has since been divided between a Labyrinth Books and a store for the University. Inside, neither tenant has preserved anything from the Woolworth days.
I love this building. Even though it most likely dates back to the 1920's, it looks like it could be hundreds of years older.
Princeton seems to have a lot of old buildings around it. This one was very fitting for a Starbucks.
This is their main building, which if I remember correctly is the oldest educational building in the country and was built in the 1750's. It looked rather imposing on the bleak day I chose to visit.
This was a bit of a novelty for me. I had never seen a black squirrel before (all the ones in my area are brown or gray). Hard to believe they have such a significant presence less than 100 mi from me, yet none can be found on the other side of the river.
BofA operates on the lower floor (the interior looks surprisingly normal for a building of this stature), and offices take up the top four floors. You have to go inside through the bank to get up there, which seems like a design flaw.
This is located in one of the center's older buildings, dating back to the 60's. This building in particular stays true to the colonial look they were going for, unlike the newer ones behind it.
This was an older building that most of the complex was built around. It looks like it must have just closed last year. Knowing the area, it won't stay empty for very long!
Even after sticking my head inside, I can't figure out exactly what this place does. I get the impression that this is a scrapbooking supply store, but they seem to sell a little more than that. Made for a cool picture, anyway.
This building was put up in the 30's with a grocery store initially occupying the CVS space. CVS opened up in the late 80's. The store looks a lot smaller than it really is.
This was built in the 60's initially, but it appears the store was added on in the 80's or 90's. The original building is still standing, due to an incredibly stupid state law: you can't pump your own gas. All stations have to be full-service.
This was built in the mid-90's. I don't know if it's just the roof, but this place looks incredibly small.
Chi-Chi's/Olive Garden, Lawrenceville, NJ
This whole shopping center looks like an old motel, where the Olive Garden would have been the lobby originally. I can't find anything on it, but it looks like an old Holiday Inn. Prior to Olive Garden, this was a Chi-Chi's. It retains a lot of their design.
This was built in the 80's as well. Aside from a logo change sometime in the 90's, it hasn't changed very much. Update: Closed with the chain in 2018.
The roof would indicate that this was built originally in the 80's, although it was completely redone when the new design came out. I have no idea how Darden could afford to remodel every single one of these this extensively, but they obviously did.
This opened in the late 90's, and was sold to Rite Aid in 2007. It appears to have been remodeled recently, judging by the RediClinic sign. The sign looks horrible on the white background; I'm surprised they didn't opt for cut-out letters since they had to replace it anyway.
This building was built in 1919, although it did not contain a Wawa until about 70 years later. This was Wawa's flagship store until the new Center City store was opened last year. It has always been kept in top condition, getting completely remodeled every 5 years or so. It was given this current look and expanded in 2012. I was able to find a picture from two remodels ago showing what it used to look like.
The previous view did not show the steel framing going up around the bottom. This are already has the glass façade over it, even though the top of the building is still in the works.
Comcast II was still putting up their elevator shaft last December. Today, the framework of the building is almost complete. I think they are shooting for a 2018 opening date. The gray building behind it with the diamond-shaped keystone on top is Commerce Square, the first building in the city to surpass the height of City Hall. Update: Officially opened Fall 2018, but construction is ongoing as of early 2019.
The back wall in the lobby of Comcast Center I is a gigantic TV screen. Every year, they put on a Christmas show. When it's not in use, the screen is able to blend in with the wood paneling almost seamlessly. I'm interested to see how Comcast Center II will one-up this. Update: They didn't. Comcast II's interior is much lower-tech.
This building, originally build in 1960, serves as the welcome center for Fairmount Park (even though the park itself is a couple miles away). It actually sits on JFK Park, home of the famed LOVE statue. This building is loved by the locals, even though there have been at least half a dozen attempts to demolish it. The JFK Park has been torn up for a rebuild, although it has been decided that this place will stay for the time being. Its fate is still up in the air. Update: As of early 2018, the building is undergoing extensive renovations.
Construction began on this building in 1871, although it was not completed for another thirty years of nonstop construction. From 1894-1908 it was the tallest building in the world, at 548 feet. It remained the tallest in Philadelphia until 1987.
Wanamaker's opened this store in 1902, and operated it up until the May Co. buyout in 1995, when it was merged with Hecht's. A few years later, Hecht's was phased out in the Philly market in favor of Strawbridge & Clothier. The store did not carry the S&C branding for very long. In 2006, it was bought out by Macy's. Despite the numerous name changes in the past 2 decades, this store has been in continuous operation for over 114 years. The building is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Looking down at the jewelry department from the third floor mezzanine.
Update to this picture. The building behind has been stripped back to the frame, making me think it will be a part of the new complex.
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