Guest Post #2: Thompson Falls, Montana

Some more photos sent by our friend, Sandy:

These are from Thompson Falls, Montana along Rt 200, which follows the Flat Head River to its confluence with the Clark Fork River and on to Lake Pend Oreille.

Guest Post #1: Oddfellow's Building, Colfax Washington

Our friend Sandy sent us these photos, and reports:

This is the Oddfellows building, from both sides, in Colfax, Washington on Rt 195, about an hour south of Spokane, in the heart of wheat country . As you can see there are several generations of paintings here. Alas, the book store seems to be gone. Choose whichever pics you'd like. By the way, I think I've seen signs by Heck somewhere before, not sure, but it seems familiar.

Sandy

Coca Cola Building, Casper Wyoming

This is the Coca Cola Building in Casper, Wyoming.  The building was a bottling plant at one time.  There is presently an effort underway to save this particular building.

Skelly Gasoline Station, Casper Wyoming

 

Skelly was an oil company that had its own gasoline stations, as most oil companies did, up until 1977 when it was bought by Getty Oil, and then subsequently Getty's interest was sold to Texaco.

This Skelly station was located along Yellowstone Street, the in town expression of the old Yellowstone Highway, in Casper Wyoming.  I am quite familiar with this area and had no idea that this building had ever been a Skelly station.  It's identity only came to light recently when the facade of the building, which has seen a variety of uses over the years, was stripped off.

Gasoline stations like this one were once very common.  Small brick and mortar stations which offered full service.  In this case, the station was located across the street from the substantial Wyatt's Gasoline Station and across from Tripeny Motors, which also had a gasoline station.  The location was a good one, as the Yellowstone Highway was the main regional highway at the time.

Campbell County Mural, Gillette Wyoming

College Bar, Douglas Wyoming

"Cafe-Hotel" Buffalo Wyoming

Capitol Hotel, Buffalo Wyoming

The Capitol Hotel building on Main Street, Buffalo Wyoming.

Grain Elevator, Leister Wyoming

A grain elevator near Leister Wyoming.

Elder, Quinn & McGill Company Building, Casper Wyoming

This building is the Elder, Quinn and McGill Building in Casper, Wyoming. I'm not really familiar with this company, but I believe it does construction work of some type. They've had a very long presence in Casper, and obviously owned this building at some point. I don't know if they still own it. This downtown building is directly across from the railroad and very near Natrona Transfer and Storage.

Fire Station No. 1, Casper Wyoming

This is Casper's old Fire Station No. 1, now a commercial office building. The newer looking brick work on the right is an addition.

This is a bit out of the scope of this blog, as this old fire station has no painted signs on it. Still, it does have some decorative work identifying it as a fire station. This fire station was still in use as a fire station as late as the 1970s, and after the last fire trucks were moved two blocks to the north to a new station, it hung on for some time in other uses for the Casper Fire Department. As can be seen from the details at the top of the building, it was built in 1921.

Occidental Hotel, Buffalo Wyoming

This depicts Main Street, downtown Buffalo Wyoming. The building in the foreground is the Occidental Hotel, a very old Buffalo Hotel that has seen such varied occupants as Theodore Roosevelt and Butch Cassidy. Another Buffalo hotel is seen further up the street.

Natrona County International Airport Mural

Mural depicting the history and industries of Natrona County, Wyoming, in the Natrona County International Airport.

Best Out West elevator, Sheridan Wyoming

Old elevator in Sheridan Wyoming. This elevator belonged to the Best Out West flour mill, and apparently this was the mill. The hotel next to it is named after the mill.

Opal, Wyoming

Old painted store side in Opal, Wyoming. This was a fairly substantial structure, in what was an isolated small town, and as the sign indicates, the store included groceries amongst its offerings. Gasoline and Oil were also advertised, as can be seen. A tiny super store, in its day, or a substantial general store, if more properly considered.

L&L Fabrication, Gillette Wyoming

This is an enormous industrial building in Gillette Wyoming which features a mural of regional businesses on its side. Impressive mural.

Feed Store Elevator, Lander Wyoming

Classically painted feed store elevator in Lander, Wyoming.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Denver Colorado

This is an usual modern example of a painted building logo, this one located on the roof of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant in Denver, Colorado. Bubba Gump's is a chain, but I doubt all have this feature. This painted logo, viewed here upside down as viewed from the Embassy Suites, is painted so that the logo is visible from the hotel across the street.

This was photographed on a snowy day, so the logo is not entirely clear.

Dupler Brothers Fur Building, Denver Colorado

Downtown Denver used to have several furriers and fur warehouses. This was one of them.

Noland Feed Store

This is example of a long time business, still in business with a painted brick building. The Noland Feed store, in downtown Casper, Wyoming features a painted logo, and painted representations of some of what it offers.

One you definately do not see anymore, brickwork, Thermopolis Wyoming

Here's one that you would not see done again, and you might also expect to have been changed since 1945. Swastika motif in brickwork.

This is not as sinister as it might seem. Swastikas showed up as ornamental designs in quite a few things prior to World War Two, and they bore no association at all with the Nazi Party. In the west, they were associated with Indians, and were regarded as an Indian good luck symbol. Chances are that the architect of this Thermopolis, Wyoming building had that in mind, as Thermopolis is not far from the Wind River Reservation.

Evanston Wyoming

Downtown Evanston, Wyoming, with many old painted signs in evidence.

Prairie Publishing Company Window

The Townsend Hotel--Townsend Justice Center

A building figuring in several posts below has now entered new service, but with its old painted signs intact.

What was once the Townsend Hotel, a Casper hotel from the golden age of hotels, at one time, and a flop house later on, is now the Natrona County Townsend Justice Center.

Cars of the past

This building serves as the VFW in Lead, South Dakota. It was obviously a fine car dealership, however, offering Hudsons and Terraplanes.

Today, small dealerships of all types are in danger. It hardly seems possible that once every small town had several, let alone that there were so many manufacturers.

Also discussed on Lex Anteinternet.

Virgin Mary Mural in Salt Lake City

I'll admit that this is a bit unusual for this page, but this is a spectacular mural of the Virgin Mary in downtown Salt Lake City. These photos, taken on my cell phone, do not do it justice in any sense.

This building serves as an art gallery and a pizzeria.

Townsend Ghost Signs Get Reprieve

As it turns out, the Townsend Hotel sign will remain after all. . . sort of.

Actually, it's being repainted. The bricks of the building have recently been treated with something, so they look nearly new. The sign will stay, but apparently it will be repainted too.

I'm not sure what to make of that. I like the idea of keeping the sign, but repainting it seems odd. Not as bad as removing it, but not as good as just leaving it alone.

Townsend "Ghost" sign to be no more.

As reported in today's Casper Star Tribune, the Downtown Development Commission has decided that the old sign doesn't comport to the building's new role of being a courthouse. So the sign will be covered.

I suppose there's something to that view, but I'll be sad to see the old sign go.

Townsend Again

These photos show the same building depicted immediately below, but with additions. This is the Townsend Building again, in the process of conversion in to a District Court House.

As you can see, the old Townsend sing, depicted below, can no longer be seen. But the painted sign on the side of the building can be. Right now, the question of whether or not to preserve the painted sign on the side is under advisement.

Updates, Changes, and Disappearing Signs

Two of the buildings depicted here no longer look anything like what is depicted below, an amazing change if you consider that these photographs are less than a year old.

Anyhow, the Townsend Building, one of the first buildings depicted on this site, has been going major alterations, as this site indicated would occur, as it is converted into a courthouse. As a result, the signs depicted on this site are no longer visible, and the building itself looks considerably different. It'll be very intersting to see how the new Townsend Justice Center develops, given as it increases the size of the building by at least a third, and converts it to a use which was never contemplated by the original designers. Suffice it to say, having the building reoccupied for the first time in nearly 30 years will itself be a major change.


Another building, the Natrona Transfer building, has also undergone some renovations, although the structure hasn't been changed. The old painted signs, however, are now gone.

We'll post updated photos on the buildings soon.

Anyhow, it's odd to think that a couple of very old buildings, whose signs had been visible for many, many, years should suddenly loose them to view in a single year. Both old buildings are showing signs of new life, so the changes aren't wholly lamentable by any means. But it does show, I suppose, how things that seem permanent are not.