Casper Power Box: Buildings of Interest.

This is an unusual city display, memorializing prominent buildings of Casper that were there in 1922.  The structure this is on is a power box.  Neat display.

Sinclair Station, Hudson Wyoming

This is the former Sinclair station in Hudson Wyoming. The building features a variety of fading painted signs, including one fairly clear Sinclair sign, and a second Sinclair sign which has either been painted over with another sign, or which painted over another sign.

The building also has a sign for Eli D. Bebout, who ran for Governor in Wyoming in 2002.  Hudson is a bit unusual in that brick signs are not only common, but political ones have been done within the last two decades.  One was this one for Eli D. Bebout, and another, across the street, is painted on the El Toro restaurant building for the late John P. Vinich.

Svilar's, Hudson Wyoming

 

 

This is the building housing the legendary Svilar's Restaurant in Hudson, Wyoming. Svilars is a first rate restaurant, and at one time the small town of Hudson housed Wyoming's two highest rated restaurants, this one, and another one owned by the same family which was located across the street.

This restaurant has been in business for many years and I don't know what this building was originally used for. Today it has a restaurant scene on one side.  On the other there's a remnant of a sign for a baseball game in Hudson, but when the game, or games, were played, I have no idea.

Guest Post #3. Dillon Montana

And one more set from our friend Sandy:

And two older ones from Dillon, Montana. Dillon is cattle country and the home of the U of M West, aggie- quite a different flavor than Missoula, U of M.  I haven't (yet) seen any yaks in this part of the state.

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.