Drive-By Photos 25
Giant, Royersford, PA
This opened right before the Wawa did. Last I checked, it hadn't been remodeled to the Ahold décor yet.
Also of note is the Wawa sign, still displaying the old logo. I would have expected that to be replaced when they added the digital gas signage.
This location opened around 2004, shortly after the Giant across the street. I believe it was part of the same development. Like the Chester Springs location featured yesterday, this was remodeled last Spring as well. How did I anticipate the remodels and get pictures beforehand? Pure coincidence. :P
This opened in 2012 as a relocation of one by the Genuardi's. If this picture is any indication, Royersford is a pretty sleepy place at 6 o'clock on a Sunday morning.
This officially opened in 2004, even though the parish was established in 1999. Before this was built, they had mass at Lionville Middle School's auditorium. I went to preschool across the street, and remember watching the early phases of construction. I'm always surprised at how fancy it is inside, probably due to the fact that I watched them putting up steel beams and plywood. They added an elementary school to the complex shortly after the church itself was open.
I have a feeling that this was some kind of gas station originally, probably an Amoco, but I can't find anything supporting that. I remember this was a Penske up until 2015. When they closed, they sold a bunch of trucks to the Marble, granite, and tile company across the street, which (I guess) uses them to transport granite countertops. As of earlier this year, Verizon has opened up in here.
If you will recall what this looked like previously, you can see that it has obviously had some work done to it. Believe it or not, this entire remodel took less than a month. Planet Fitness is still setting up in the left half of the building, but it appears Amish Market is already up and running.
It took me forever to figure out what this was. I don't ever remember it being an Arby's, although I recall something was there more recently. It has been vacant for about five years now. Correction: Turns out it was an Arby's up until July 2007, and has been vacant since then.
This had been sitting abandoned for as long as I can remember. Thankfully, instead of being demolished like another vacant Texaco down the road, this became an Exxon in 2011. The Pep Boys opened up in 2015.
Wawa relocated across the street in 2005 (that location just reopened from a remodel). Hill's opened in 2012, completely disguising the identity of the building's previous owner.
This was built in 2013, replacing an older Wawa down the street. Like the Downingtown location featured last time, this has entrances on both sides.
Update: There's a chance this store will be closed (already!) for the Rt. 322 widening project. PennDOT's plans don't show any driveways branching off to where this would have been.
I really liked how this one came out. I have a similar Nighttime shot.
I feel like 7/11 hasn't done too much expansion into the area since the 60's. Most of their Pennsylvania stores are like this.
This opened in the 50's as an A&P, which was closed by 1980. Big Lots opened in the mid-00's, filling up the entire A&P space, which appears to have been subdivided between in the interim. Update: Was also a Gary's and Drug Emporium.
This location closed not long after the Rite Aid buyout, although it did spend a couple years under the banner. Dollar Tree took over the space. It made for an interesting conversion, to say the least.
This has been operating here since 1997, although the building dates back to well before then. This restaurant is very popular with the locals. The food is fantastic, too!
I always wanted to explore this place. Looks like I missed my shot. :( Here's another page that did actually get inside!
I'm positive this Quality Inn started out as something else, and this restaurant was part of the hotel. The two businesses appear to be run separately. I don't think this restaurant has any interior passage to the hotel lobby anymore. It looks like there was a Howard Johnson in Pottstown at one point, although I can't find an address. This could be where it was.
I don't believe I have ever seen another Ruby Tuesday that looked like this in person, although an internet search proved that there is at least one other like it. This opened in the early 90's as part of Festival Center (originally anchored by Sears Hardware and Clemens).
This was the most people-free shot I could get. I took these pictures at a really busy time of day, so this was the only clear interior shot I got.
This has been under construction for a painfully long period of time. They started April, 2015, and are still putting the finishing touches on it. I know they didn't give up on it, since little by little, stuff is still happening. It makes me think it's just one guy doing all the work in his free time. You can see what it looked like when US Gas first opened here.
I can't say I remember this place ever being open, but it appears to have been occupied fairly recently. I would guess whatever was last here closed in the mid-00's. Recently, the front door fell open. It would be really easy to get inside if it were not for the fact that you couldn't park anywhere near it without drawing attention to yourself. Update: As of late 2018, this is being renovated. I believe it's either going to become a house or office.
Less than a month after I took my last photo, they replaced the sign for the essentially dead Pottstown Plaza. This would indicate that they are planning on redeveloping the center, but the number of stores hasn't changed at all. They must be negotiating with someone, otherwise they seem to be beating a dead horse here.
This is definitely one of your more obscure gas stations. It is in the bottom floor of a three-story strip mall. I have no clue what the deal is with this place, but it sure is strange. It was converted to an Exxon earlier this year. Update: It would appear that this has closed.
This store is actually not within the Boyertown City limits, but it is close enough that I count it as part of the town. It lies on Rt. 100 in an area full of nothing, so I'm not sure what city this belongs in. It opened in 2015 on what was previously a corn field. It looks like they are planning on developing the rest of the property soon.
A 90's-era Turkey Hill store. Wawa doesn't have a store in this part of town, so this doesn't have very much (if any!) competition.
I drive by this place once a year, and every time it surprises me that this place is still standing. It looks like it is falling down layer by layer from the outside in.
I always loved the modern-styled buildings Susquehanna used. BB&T's logo seems to go nicely with them. Hopefully that's just about all they will change on this building!
Redner's opened up here in the early 2000's. They must have just remodeled this location (I'm not sure what décor there is to change out! :P), since it now has the new logo, sans the "Warehouse Markets". This appears to be an attempt to make them look more upscale.
This has been here since around 2000. The Weis Supermarket it pairs with was still called King's when this was built, although this has always had the Weis nameplate.
Another example of Susquehanna's 80's branches. Boyertown's mascot is the bear. They seem to have embraced it. Bear statues like the one seen by the flagpole can be found all over town.
This looks a lot like other 30's-era Texaco stations, although it is hard to find information confirming the history of the building. It now appears to serve as some sort of garage.
They left the old wallpaper intact! I guess there was nothing wrong with it, but you could say the same for everything they did replace (lights, counters, tile).
I liked how this picture came out. There aren't too many cobblestone streets left in the city. The gas station seen to the right used to be a Coastal, and kept using the name for about a decade after the refinery went under.
Believe it or not, this place is still operational. Germantown is just a rough area. This looks like a 50's styled Gulf that was expanded and awning-ed by Amoco in the 70's. Based on the condition of the building, I would assume Ray's has been here for a very long time.
Esso/Gulf, Philadelphia (Germantown)
You can tell you're not in the nicest part of town when nameless service centers that look like this start appearing.
And with this, I'm down to 5000 Photos left on Flickr, 4000 of which I still need to move!
Wow! You've been working at quite a fast pace transferring photos. Good luck with the rest!
ReplyDeleteThank you! Despite how fast I've been going, I still need to pick up the pace. At the rate I've been going it's going to take 80 days to finish, but I have like a month left to do it before Flickr starts deleting stuff. :P
DeleteYou're welcome! And yikes! If you need any help, let me know...
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