Must-See Wacky Roadside Buildings
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Ed Betz, AP
Roadside Architecture for Business and Fun!
What do you get if you take the skills of an architect and cross them with the marketing savvy of an advertising executive? Buildings that not only advertise a product, but actually look like the product.
These historic wacky structures referred to as mimetic (prog- rammatic) architecture peaked in the 1930s, made popular by enterprising entrepreneurs who set out to lure automobile drivers away from main street. See wackiest roadside buildings. -
David Rogowski, AOL
Barrel House Liquors
Washington D.C.
Business: Liquor Store
Consumers in the metropolitan Maryland and Virginia suburbs know that Washington D.C. is the cheapest place to go to stock the bar.
Barrel House Liquors, fronted by a giant-size walk-through wine barrel, works the competition with a spirited presence in roadside architecture. -
Monika Nikore, AOL
Big Chicken
Marietta, Ga.
Business: Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant
Commissioned in the early '60s by greasy spoon owner Tubby Davis (to beat out the competition), the Big Chicken eventually sold to his brother, a K.F.C. franchise owner.
That franchise was one of the highest grossing stores until a city construction project rerouted traffic away from this roadside architecture. -
Bondurant's Pharmacy
Bondurant's Pharmacy
Lexington, Ky.
Business: Pharmacy
In the 1970s, the original owner, Joe Bondurant, a pharmacist, returned from Las Vegas with a big idea: his own store built in the shape of a giant-size mortar and pestle.
That idea is still paying off for current owner Eric Brewer, whose father built the original roadside architecture model for Joe Bondurant -- from a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. -
David Rogowski, AOL
The Conga Room
Los Angeles
Business: A former camera shop
Located at 5370 Wilsire Bld., the Darkroom, a former camera shop, was remodeled in 1937 by Marcus P. Miller and is one of the last remaining mimetic architectural structures in Los Angeles.
Today, the Darkroom still draws tourists for its roadside architecture, but be sure to step inside where you'll find the trendy restaurant club, the Conga Room. -
Clam Box
The Clam Box
Ipswich, Mass.
Business: Restaurant
The Clam Box is not only the most recognizable seafood house in New England, operating out of a building designed in the shape of a clam box, but it also claims to be the best fried seafood house in the northern region.
Located 30 miles north of Boston, this roadside building was built in 1938 by Dick Greenleaf and has been serving fried shellfish for more than 60 years. -
The Richmond Dairy Apartments
The Richmond Dairy Apartments
Richmond, Va.
Business: Former dairy business
The Richmond Dairy Co. is one of the very few mimetic (programmatic) buildings that a person can actually live in.
The building has been converted into 113 apartments. Each of the building's three entrances is marked by a 16-foot-tall dairy bottle. Though living within landmark roadside architecture may not be for everyone. -
Alicia Gray Painter, AOL CityGuide
The Donut Hole
La Puente, Calif.
Business: Fast-food drive-through
Built in 1968, the Donut Hole is the last of a five-chain franchise that was designed on roadside architecture concepts. Twenty-first century motorists can still drive through the 26-foot donut tunnel selecting donuts laid out behind glass windows.
City Search gives this roadside building an 8.4 rating for its restaurant. -
courtesy of The Longaberger Company
The Longaberger Company
Newark, Ohio
Business: Handcrafted goods
How would you like to work inside a basket?
The Longaberger Company, a maker of handcrafted baskets, pottery and ceramics, is headquartered inside this giant-size basket, formerly the Dresden Basket factory. The Big Basket is not only a roadside building attraction but also makes aviators' fly-by lists. -
Len & Beth Gauvin
Salvador's Ice Cream
S. Dartmouth, Mass.
Business: Ice cream store
The Salvador family opened its ice cream parlor in 1936, selling homemade ice cream out of the giant milk can, which also represented the family's dairy farm.
In 2005, ownership of Salvador's (roadside building and business) was transferred to the Gauvin family, who continue to run the store today. -
Tim Hursley
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum
Nashville, Tenn.
Business: Concert hall and museum
The newest -- and classiest -- addition to mimetic (programmatic) architecture, the Country Music Hall of Fame takes the shape of a giant treble clef -- the key at the heart of America's homegrown tunes.
This landmark project cost $37 million to complete and opened to the public in May 2001. -
Orange World
Orange World
Kissimmee, Fla.
Business: Liquor Store
Here's a piece of roadside architecture that screams, 'STOP!' Orange World is located on the outskirts of Disney territory, where Orlando's most ambitious neighbors in Kissimmee vie for coveted tourist traffic.
Inside the world's largest orange travelers can purchase an array of citrus as well as Mickey Mouse trinkets. -
David Rogowski, AOL
Randy's Donuts
Inglewood, Calif.
Business: Donut shop
Built in Inglewood, Calif. in 1952, Randy's Donuts remains a hallmark of the '50s drive-ins, even earning cinematic appearances.
Today the fast-food store is still a popular roadside building stop owned and preserved by the Weintroub family. -
The Haines Shoe House
The Haines Shoe House
York County, Pa.
Business: Museum
So it was not an old lady who lived in a shoe ... Colonel Haines, the shoe king of Pennsylvania who once owned and operated 40 stores statewide, built the 48-foot- long guest house in 1948.
Sold after his death and temporarily turned into an ice cream parlor, the house has returned to the Haines family and is operated as a museum in tribute to the late Colonel. -
Tea Pot or Oil Can?
Zillah, Wash.
Business: Gas station
Constructed as a joke that now only history buffs truly enjoy, this goofy-looking service station was built to spoof the Teapot Dome scandals during President Harding's administration. The scandal sent Harding's Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, to prison for leasing government oil reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming.
The service station has been in operation ever since. -
David Rogowski, AOL
Wigwam Motel
Holbrook, Ariz.
Business: Motel
Those who want to experience tribal living, at least for a night, can reserve their own comfy teepee at the Wigwam motel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The roadside architecture complex was created in the 1930s by Chester Lewis who bought his plans from Frank Redford, a fellow Wigwam village owner from Kentucky. -
Ed Betz, AP
The Big Duck
Long Island, N.Y.
Business: Farm stand (former)
No, it's not a bizarre floating decoy. This 20' x 30' duck is the wacky roadside architecture of Martin Maurer, an enterprising 1930s farmer who wanted to attract motorists to sell his eggs.
Today the Big Duck continues to draw tourists, aptly serving the region as a Long Island visitor center. -
Corbis
Next: More Wacky Roadside Buildings
These wacky roadside landmarks attract tourists for the old-timey novelty that these successful small business owners carefully preserve.
See Wacky Roadside Landmarks
Read About: America's Quirkiest Businesses -
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