Drive-By Photos 12
Mobil/Little Caesar's, Phoenixville, PA
This was built as a Mobil station in the 50's. This was somehow related to the Goodyear (now United Tire) across the street for a time afterwards. It sat empty for a while afterwards, and then became a tanning salon. Caesar's opened in 2013 and closed in 2016.
This was built in the late 60's as an Exxon station. It has more recently become a seafood market.
This is a 70's location, which has been kept somewhat up-to-date. The Citibank ATM is now a generic brand. Citi's short-lived presence in the Philadelphia market ended in late 2016.
History courtesy pauled8no1 on Flickr: "Yes, definitely 50s. All of these Getty stations with the attached canopy were built as Flying A stations in the 50s. Flying A was a brand of Tidewater Oil Co. They all changed to Getty in 1970 after J. Paul Getty purchased the remaining shares of Tidewater. He already owned something like 40% at the time."
As of 2018 this is one of very few Getty's left. The company went out of business in 2013 after years of decline, and the remaining stations have been operating independently since then. A large number of remaining Getty's switched over to Gulf in 2017.
This location opened in the early 90's, and is one of the increasingly few stores of this style still in operation around here. It's one of even fewer to still have the old-style roadside sign.
This is an old Gulf building, probably from the 50's or 60's. Judging by the sign frame and black canopy, I think it may have been an Amoco more recently. Sharro, an independent company, is currently selling gas here.
This pharmacy's been around for a while. It has been renovated since this picture was taken, but still looks pretty ancient.
Wawa, Havertown, PA
Most likely built in the 80's. The design was modified to fit in with the more upscale area. It was remodeled Spring, 2017.
Bradlee's, on of the few carts that was stickered over. I'm guessing this was one of the first sets of carts they bought. They closed in 2001.
My doctor is on the middle floor. It's a pretty cool building with a great view. This is on the border of Wynnewood and Ardmore, so I'm not sure what to refer to it as. My doctor calls this his Ardmore office, but the SuperFresh across the street is called the Wynnewood store.
This was built in the 60's most likely. At some point, it became a diner. There used to be one just like this in Exton, but a bank bought out the lease, tore it down, built their place, and went out of business about a year later.
This would have been a tiny theater. I'm not sure what else it could have been, though. Update: open 1965-1999 as a theater. Buca operated from 2010 to 2013.
Built in the 60's, the facade was rebuilt in the 90's.
It's still operating with a service center in its original building. Places like this are getting pretty rare.
As like most BP stations, this is in worse condition than you'd expect from a building of its age.
It would probably help business if they got a sign.
BK opened here in the 80's, and kept the exposed wooden ceiling until it closed in 2012. Taco Bell opened in 2013, closing 18 months later. Within 24 hours, the decor had been stripped off, and half sloppily repainted a cream color. The other half was painted yellow about a month later. It looks absolutely terrible now.
It probably wasn't a good idea to go through Coatesville ("the Camden of Chester County") at night, but we had to.
Anyways, it looks like it could have been a grocery store originally, and was likely built in the 50's. The Salvation Army has been here probably around 20 years.
A relative of mine had recently sold the house he had been renting out for the last several years, and the last tenants left a lot of stuff in the garage. We had the opportunity to pick through and look for anything valuable. Yeah... It was interesting.
Seen here: 4 Apple Macintosh Pluses from around 1985. They all worked. There was an (empty) Genuardi's store-brand peanuts container, a slideshow projector, which also worked, and an Apple 3 computer (the thing on its side), from the late 70's-early 80's.
I tried plugging these old monitors in. One didn't work, and the other lit up green.
The roof was patched with part of an old sign at one point.
Looks like a mid-2000's store. The only other grocer in town is City Market, another Kroger store.
They were formerly part of American Stores Co. I think they split between Jewel Osco and Jewel, the latter of which is no longer in business.
Arby's, Parker, CO
Opened in the mid-90's, with the center.
The town was unofficially named after this place, which was converted to a hotel around 1920. It was yellow until recently, but I doubt this paint job is going to rename the town.
It's hard to tell when this opened. It has the most generic version of their exterior remodel I have ever seen.
This is probably the oldest gas station I have seen in operation. I would guess it was built in the 30's or 40's.
It was built in the 90's, and relocated to a Super Target around 2007. The right side became Circuit City for a short time, and the right sat vacant until Murdoch's opened in 2011. Skyzone opened in the old CC in 2014.
Opened in 1984. I'm not sure if the shingle roof was ever standard, or if it was just custom for the town.
I think this replaced an older LJS on the site, and a former Taco Bell down the road.
This guy has been operating here for about ten years in a little trailer. The property is owned by developers, who are supposed to be building a shopping center here now. It's a nice place with a nice owner, so I hope he was able to tow it somewhere nearby. This place has quite a history. It has violated pretty much every town requirement regarding trailers, but is well-liked enough they let it slide. He just has to roll it home with him at night. Update: construction began last month. This was able to relocate a couple miles down the road. The landscape is unrecognizable.
August Moon, Parker, CO
This is a really good Chinese restaurant. I would highly recommend it to anyone who ever goes out here.
This open-air mall opened in the 80's. There are very few vacancies. Given that this is a ski resort town, and that they get a ton of snow each ski season, I don't know why they decided to make this open-air. This is one of relatively few instances where people would prefer an enclosed one! Also, take notice of the sign in the bottom righthand corner. That is a blatant copyright violation, unless Nintendo is actually operating a pizza restaurant.
Opened in the 80's, closed 2015 due to its proximity to a newer Albertson's store. It kept the old logo until the end. Sorry for the Image quality.
This store opened around 2011. The design was slightly modified to fit in with the town's building code. Because of this, it looks more modern than ones built more recently!
Mule Deer
This is a little different than the kind we have back east. They look more like mules than the white tail kind, hence the name.
The flight took off at 6:45 AM, so it was still pretty dark out while we were boarding.
Colorado Farmland
It really gives you an impression of how flat the land is out there.
The large building off to the left is a Walmart, and the store with the arched roof is an ACME (former Penn Fruit), which is how I could tell where I was. There's also an old A&P across the street.
War Zone Santa
A deflated Santa lawn ornament in front of a tank. Someone isn't in the Christmas spirit.
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