Drive-By Photos 7

My goal for this weekend is to boil down my Flickr page to 6,000 photos. Hopefully by Christmas I can get it to 3,500; then have it down to 1,000 by the time Flickr starts purging out my profile. So that means expect frequent (re)postings here for the next few months. After that, I will resume posting fresh content.

ACME/Kmart, Thorndale, PA

Built in the 70's, originally had an ACME next door, which moved in the late 80's, Kmart expanded into the former ACME space in the 1990's

Closing January 2019.

Pizza Hut, Thorndale, PA

I would guess a 70's or 80's location, relocated more recently to a nearby shopping center, was vacant as of 2013.

Suzuki, Coatesville, PA

Opened in the 70's or 80's, closed most likely when Suzuki withdrew from the American market around 2010

Lipkin's Furniture, Coatesville, PA

Built 1949, I think this was their original location. They had a small chain until recently, as all of them closed in the late 00's. A view of the tower. This store was the farthest I have ever gone into Coatesville, and hopefully the farthest I will ever go! (it is a really dangerous place). 

Bell's Delites, Parkesburg, PA

Looks like it was built in the 50's or 60's, was demolished and rebuilt in 2014. Still is Bell's Delites, though.

Turkey Hill, Parkesburg, PA

This is their location on the other end of town, which since this picture was taken, has received a gas station (with the generic Kroger gas logo).

Tom Oates Automotive, Chester Springs, PA

Inside, they have pictures of it through the years. It has been an auto center ever since cars were invented, and has been constantly expanding their building. From the early 70's until 2008, it was Tom Oates Chevrolet. The  oldest part of the building is planned to be turned into a café. The little room on the front was a porch until it was enclosed during the summer of 2013. They closed in 2015, and as of 2018 work is underway to convert this to a used car lot.

Wawa, Coatesville, PA

Probably built in the 70's, relocated in the last 5 years. Has become A-Mart.

Gulf/East Coast, Springfield, PA

Opened as a Gulf in the 60's or 70's. They lost and regained their franchise a couple times, resulting in a canvas bag occasionally pulled over the Gulf sign. Eventually closed around 2004, becoming East Coast shortly after. The sign that holds he prices has a bunch of blue tape over where it said Gulf originally. Remember, these are 2013 prices. Thankfully, it is about 70 cents cheaper now.

ACME, Downingtown, PA

Sorry the tree was blocking the view of the sign. Hard to control the outcome of pictures taken from a moving car window! (for the record, I wasn't driving). This store opened in the late 80's, still has the 90's industrial décor. Feels a little run-down inside.

Downingtown Diner, Downingtown, PA

In the 1958 movie The Blob, the part where they are stuck in the burning diner was filmed here. It has been several other diners since, and more recently has been turned back into the Downingtown Diner. The stainless steel was added later, probably in the 60's. Previously, it was Chef's diner, which I thought was aesthetically the nicest. Had a lot of neon and just looked more old-timey.

Goodyear/United Tire, Downingtown, PAThis was most likely built in the 60's or 70's. In 2014, it became United Tire, who repainted and put up stone facing along the bottom of the façade.

 Some Extra Giant Remodel Pictures
The old porch has been boxed out, the original frame can be seen inside.
Brick behind the fake windows had been painted black. former emergency exit will be taken out and extended to a glass door in the new façade.

TJMaxx, Exton, PA
A picture of the store's facelift nearing completion, they only have to add the lights and potted plants.

Pottstown Diner, Pottstown, PAI have always wanted to eat here. Looks like it hasn't changed much since it opened, probably in the 70's or 80's.

Patient First, Pottstown, PAConstruction underway. This was built on the site of a Japanese Buffet.

Weis/Ollie's, Pottstown, PA

Opened in the 60's, I would assume the façade was redone in the 70's. It moved in 1995. Currently Ollie's Outlet. The relocation can be seen here.

Giant, Pottstown, PAA better picture than my previous. Opened in the 80's, had a massive expansion/remodel in the early 2000's, and rather than expand again around 2010 like most early 2000's stores did, it relocated across the street. If you look above the boarded up windows, you can see the top of the T in the Thanks for shopping at Giant sign.

Jamesway/TSC, Pottstown, PAMy first picture of this came out a little blurry, so I got a better one. TSC takes up about a third of the storefront, but has the entire back room area. The shopping center is mostly vacant, making me worry a redevelopment is planned.

Jamesway Cart Corral, Pottstown, PAAn old cart corral for the former Jamesway store, has been repurposed to fit the needs of Tractor Supply co.

Gulf & Cumberland Farms, Pottstown, PAOriginally an Amoco, it became a gulf before the rest of the chain went under. Cumberland Farms has since become a Circle K.

VIP Diner, Pottstown, PAI posted a picture of this back when my account was just getting started. The old awning has since been torn off and seems to be in the process of being replaced with a plywood box. Here it was in its former glory.

Pottstown, PASome old 20's mural signs survive on this side of this place!

A&P/Genuardi's/Grocery Outlets, Royersford, PAAn old colonial A&P that has been nearly remodeled beyond recognition, but it still retains the old porch brackets. Became a Genuardi's and their discount chain, Mad Grocer, in the 90's, moved to a new location that closed with the chain in 2012. Became Amelia's Grocery outlets, a small chain, and is currently some other grocery outlet. It might be just called Grocery Outlet.

Amoco/Keystone State, Royersford, PA

A 60's Amoco location, which later converted to independent Keystone State Fuel, which has since closed. The façade was redone (read: downgraded) when another tenant took over.

Texaco, Spring City, PA

Has so many unique characteristics, it should be so easy to identify. I can't. No labelscar or anything. I would cay an Arco based on the roof, but it lacks the wood paneled roof sides and cupola on top. And its tiny. Correction: Texaco. It's a Texaco.

Amoco, Spring City, PA

Appears to have made it to the end. Has become Harmony Auto Service. If you look closely to the top of the canopy, you can faintly see where the lettering has been painted over.

Chevy Dealer?, Phoenixville, PA

Opened probably in the 50's or early 60's, has been closed as long as I can remember. I think there are plans to raze the property and build a subdivision. The blue part has been leased out to a repair shop, while the rest falls apart. There is another abandoned part to the building to the right. Update: has been demolished for a retail/apartment complex.

CVS, West Chester, PA

Another store right on the border, JoshAustin610 recently uploaded a photo of this. This picture was taken around the grand opening in late 2013. There is a "now open" sign over the door.

 

This was built on the site of a former Sunoco.

7-Eleven, West Chester, PA

Not sure if this is Eton or West Chester, as it sits right on the border, so I just went with West Chester. It appears to be an 80's location, which was open until recently, as it has the new LED parking lot lights. Probably closed due to the Wawa down the street.

Chester Springs Sunoco Remodel

So, to compensate for not really posting too much these last few days, I decided to upload the post-worthy contents of folder all in one rather than split it up into 2 day's postings.

Here we have the Chester Springs Sunoco, which I have posted pictures of several times over, as construction began on the new façade, less than a year after it was shut down for a massive renovation. The backlit rainbow panels have been removed and replaced with cement board. The stone facing along the bottom was put on earlier the day the picture was taken. Construction will continue for the next week or so.

Also, I may need some coding help as I think I will start linking the updated photos back to the old ones.

Originally, it looked like this.

And in the comments, from Retail Retell: "I can help if you want to know about linking. I took the link from this photo and pasted it below. This is how it'll look for you:

m.flickr.com/#/photos/132911176@N03/18559274394/

You have to post your picture, comment, whatever as is, and then click edit. Then it'll look like this:

href="(your link)" rel="nofollow">(your re-pasted link, which you may edit to show whatever you like)

surrounded by brackets.

In that second section where it'll just automatically re-paste your link, you can edit it with whatever you want (say, "This photo" followed by "shows the station in 20xx."). Your finished result would look like this:

This photo shows the station in 20xx.

Hope that helps!"

Mobil, Ludwigs Corner, PA

Built most likely in the 30's, I would assume it was an independent station, probably has been abandoned since at least the 80's. Update: Demolished January, 2017.

Abandoned Mansion, Morgantown, PA

Looks like it was built in the late-1800's, probably has been abandoned since the 90's. In the summertime, it is next to impossible to see this building due to the overgrowth.

It was demolished sometime prior o 2017.

Sunoco, Chester Springs, PA

A view of work completed! See work in progress here, And how it originally was.

First Resource Bank, Lionville, PA

Built in the 70's or 80's with the Marchwood developments, relocated to the former M&T Bank in Lionville in 2014. It is listed as a pad site, making me think it will be demolished once they find a buyer.

Sunoco, PA Turnpike: Valley Forge Service Plaza

Built in the 80's last time PennDOT rebuilt all of the rest stops. They have since started rebuilding them again. This has been demolished, but probably will be soon rebuilt. Update: Rebuilt 2015

Abandoned Post Office?, Philadelphia (Manayunk)

A larger 50's building, has the appearance of an old post office. Has been abandoned as long as I have been alive.

Pat's Steaks, Philadelphia (South)

Established in 1930, they were the originator of the Philadelphia Cheesesteak.

Sunoco, Ardmore, PA

An old 60's Sunoco with the original sign posts! The façade here was done in blue when it was remodeled, since that is the color they use for service stations. Red is used for A-Plus'.