Drive-By Photos 31
This corner would have originally looked like this, except with red/yellow pinstriped wallpaper instead of tile behind the counter.
This must be one of their higher performance locations. It is the first one I've seen where they have replaced the signage entirely.
The 99% dead shopping center is trying to make some improvements in hopes of luring in more businesses. They put a seal coat and new lines on the parking lot, put up a new roadside sign, and began repainting the building. Almost everything was painted white, and it looks like they were starting to color the Giant blue, but gave up 1/3 of the way in. It still looks like this today. I wonder if somebody like ACME or Whole Foods would be willing to set up shop here. With the closing of Weis, Genuardi's, and Kmart, the people of Pottstown are left with Walmart, Giant, a very small Save-A-Lot, and a Redner's on the other side of town.
This was built in 1995 with the shopping center, and remodeled last summer. I never thought of this as being a high-volume location, so that surprised me.
Amoco/BP-McDonald's in Pottstown. This seems to be one of their older locations, probably dating back to the 80's. BP hasn't been doing the best job keeping their stations or McDonald's franchises modernized. As much as I hate to say it, these all need to be remodeled. Most of them are pretty gross.
This store has a much better selection than the other ones I have been in. I imagine they were able to fit more in here, since it was built specifically for TSC.
The fence was open, and nobody was here, so I decided to take a quick peek inside.
From my understanding, this was originally a girl's State school for delinquents (boys were boarded at another nearby State school), but both were switched to co-ed in the early 90's. After a little while, the state realized that it was stupid for them to be spending money on two delinquent schools so close to each other, so Sleighton was closed in 2002. It has been empty ever since.
I don't fully understand the concept of a corporate university, but it seems like a lot of retailers, particularly in the food industry, run them.
I bet it's hard to beat this school's meal plan!
I think most of the building's production floor is being used for storage.
These were down the hill from the water tower a little bit. They were probably related, since the masonry looks the same. If the area wasn't so heavily wooded, I would have thought it was a small barn.
This looks like it was used for some kind of industrial purpose, and seems to have been taken care of until recently. I have no clue what it was for, but it sure was interesting!
A little down the hill from the foundation, there was a shed with a pump and water heater inside it. I think it used to provide for that house, although it does seem strangely located.
There was once a handful of houses in these woods, most of which dated back to the 1800's, although there were a couple that were older. In 2007, a developer bought out most of these properties, along with the nearby Franklin Mint, with the intent of demolishing all that was here and building a development. Those plans fell through with the housing market crash, leaving these properties abandoned. The developer came back in 2013, demolishing all but one of the houses on this side of the mint, but ran out of funding before he could continue.
The West Chester Railroad used to connect West Chester to Philadelphia. The railroad closed in 1989. SEPTA took over the portion running between Media and Philadelphia, but left the rest of it abandoned. A couple miles of it near the West Chester end are being used by a tourist train, bearing the West Chester RR name. Recently, plans have been announced by SEPTA to revive this line, with work possibly starting late this year.
This was built originally as a house by the Pennell Family, an affluent family that played an important role in the establishment of Chester County (Ironically, most of their property is located in Delaware County, which split off from Chester). This house was repurposed as a commercial building in the 1960's, and turned into a recording studio in the mid-90's. That closed when the property was bought out for redevelopment in 2007. The original plan was to demolish this building, but the plans have been revised more recently to save it, due to its historical significance.
This was unusual. Not only was it a Wawa paired with an Eckerd to the left, but both closed without replacement. Eckerd closed in 2007, followed by Wawa in 2012. The building sat empty until it was demolished last summer. The lot is currently vacant.
The former Ruby Tuesday is the only penetration they have made in the building's shell. I think they were working from the inside out.
I would say that this is the oldest operational car dealership in the area. I think the building dates back to the 20's or 30's.
This Wawa opened in the early 2000's. The outside hadn't changed much since then, but the roadside sign was replaced around the time their remodeling spree kicked off. I was positive there would be a remodel in progress. Surprisingly, there wasn't. Their website listed the Glen Mills West location as closed for remodel, though. I wonder if the construction crews got the two stores mixed up when they did the signs.
This location was remodeled in December.
This was first built in 1745 as a private residence. The current façade was added in the 1860's. Over the years, this place has served as many things, most recently a restaurant. That opened in 1968, and closed after almost 40 years in business. It was actually my grandfather's favorite restaurant, so I wound up eating here quite a bit. The building is allegedly very haunted, although I have no encounters to report. I actually thought the place was quite comfortable.
Shortly after the Crier closed in 2007, a catering business wanted to take over the building. Their blueprints called for significant modifications to the structure, so historic preservation activists rallied to stop them. Their plan worked, but backfired on them. The building has been abandoned since then, and has now been deemed unsalvageable. There are currently plans to build a health center on the site.
Update: Unfortunately, this was demolished in late 2017.
This center was built in 2001. It has a handful of stores in it, even though it is roughly the size of a modern pharmacy. Walgreen's was originally a Happy Harry's, which takes up a little over half of the structure.
This place has been a Halloween Adventure for well over 10 years. It's vacant for 11 months a year, but I suppose that's better than nothing.
Brand-new Verizon store, built on a former Exxon I'm curious to see what they do with the logo here. It opened the same month the new logo came out, so replacing the sign already would seem wasteful.
The former Gino's had just sold. Within a couple weeks, the building would be gone. I still have no clue what they're building here.
As part of the Downingtown Wegmans' remodel, they took out the cast iron structure over the seafood cases, and installed an actual counter. I believe they still have some seafood in with the meat section, too.
Two stores you never see closed shut down simultaneously. I thought somebody must have bought out the leases, but they are still vacant about a year later. Update: Turns out Wegman's has control of the space now. Not sure what they're using it for.
This opened in the late 90's. It was a very popular restaurant for a while (Personally, I found the food a little greasy for my liking), but the business started to dwindle in later years. It was closed in early 2016, with several other Old Country and Hometown Buffets. I took these pictures shortly after closure, but it hasn't changed at all since then. The sign is still up, and the restaurant still furnished. Update: Something is moving in. The interior has been gutted as of January 2019.
LNT opened with the center in the late 90's, and closed with the chain in 2008. The only time I was ever there was during the closing sale, the 9-year-old me wished I had discovered that store long before then. It didn't sit empty for long. hhgregg decided to take this location when they pushed up into Pennsylvania the same year. Most of the places they picked up were recently vacated Circuit City's. Update: Closed with the chain in 2017. Update 2: Best Buy will be relocating here from across the street in early 2019.
This was built in 2012 on the site of a long-abandoned Frank's Nursery. It was in bad enough shape, I'm surprised they didn't knock it down sooner. Update: This was expanded/remodeled Summer 2018.
This station ceased operations as a Texaco with the rest of their Pennsylvania operations in the early 2000's. Rather than sell out to Shell, the franchisee decided he would run independently. They slapped the Pioneer name up on the Texaco canopy, and let it be until around 2010. They became a Gulf franchise, and completely redid the station. They lost their franchise pretty quickly though. Now, it's back to the Pioneer name.
I believe all construction here was complete when I stopped by, but they were still not quite open yet. They still appeared to be in the cleanup phase.
I drove by the Devon Pathmark again, and decided to take another look. They really cleaned the place out.
The shell of the building is finally complete. This all went up quickly, although it took a while for the rest of the store to come together.
The gas station remains in operation. The shed in front of the building is where the attendants worked while the store was closed. I like how they covered over the old exposed-beam canopy. It looks a lot better now than it did with bird netting.
She hates having pictures taken, but they come out nicely if you catch her by surprise.
I'm a little late to the punch here, but here's the new(-ish) CVS at the Lionville Target.
This restaurant opened in 2013, and was one of the last ones to get the old logo. This is the only one I have seen with glass running around the perimeter, instead of the black siding used now.
This place has probably been gone for decades. The current owners seem to be doing some upkeep on what's left. Those walls definitely didn't look like that naturally.
Five days after my last visit, there was nothing left of the interior. It was up and in operation again less than a month later, though.
The ceiling, or absence thereof, was lower over the aisles. I thought the neon above the refrigerators was cool.
He posed long enough for me to take a picture. Normally, they just hide from people.
I believe this was built in the mid-1700's, and hasn't been lived in since the 90's. Despite the amount of time it has been vacant, it is still in good condition, thanks to whoever owns the property. They do a nice job maintaining it, even though it isn't used for anything. A couple years ago, a tree fell on it, knocking down a chimney. It was rebuilt, and matches the other one perfectly.
This area is filled with small bodies of water, most of which are not named. Normally, this one does not look this nice, but the weather and green grass made for a nice picture.
I'm guessing this was either a farm building or a very small house, probably built in the 1700's. From the looks of it, it has been abandoned since before the road was built. That hill is a little steep to climb.
This area is full of old stone bridges. They seem to hold up better than the concrete ones. I bet these are easier to maintain.
Not much inside the old wine cellar. I really like those lights.
This opened around 1860, and was remodeled/expanded in the 50's. The building hasn't seen much attention since then, but it by no means poorly maintained.
This closed around 2010, but didn't get the windows covered until recently. This makes me think someone is finally moving in.
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