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Teepee Restaurants & Gas Stations (page 1)

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Mi Cabana Restaurant
Tucson, AZ		 Teepee
Globe, AZ		 former gas station
Allentown, AZ
This building with a teepee on the roof housed Mi Cabana Restaurant in 2012. The restaurant appeared to be closed in 2019. The building now houses a sushi restaurant. [map]

This concrete Teepee in Globe was built in the 1940s as a fast food stand. In 1972, the building was used as an entrance to the Red Roan Saloon which closed in 1980. The teepee was restored in 2011. The front door was covered up and the structure was repainted to match a photo from the 1940s. The building which housed the bar next door has been demolished. In 2021, plans were announced to restore the Teepee. However, as of 2023, there do not appear to have been any changes. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

The former gas station in Allentown is located just off I-40 at the Allentown exit. It was known at one time as the Indian City Exxon. The building has been vacant for decades. It stands next to Armand Ortega's Indian City, a souvenir and Indian arts and crafts store. [map]

Geronimo's Castle
Bowie, AZ
2012: 2018:
Geronimo's Castle was built in the 1940s. The building has been used as a Greyhound Bus Depot, curio shop, gas station, and restaurant. It was supposedly built where Chief Geronimo of the Apaches was captured. The postcard invited tourists to "stop in for a bottle of beer!". It is now known simply as "The Teepee". It was a bar and grill for many years but it closed in 2004 and has been vacant since then. There once was another, smaller teepee at a motel nearby. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

The Tepees [gone]
Golden, CO
The Tepees was 18 miles west of Denver on Highway 40. It was a combination souvenir shop and restaurant with dancing and cocktails. The Tepees boasted of having the world's tallest teepees. I believe the place was built in the 1940s. It was vacant in the 1960s and demolished in the 1970s. [bottom photo thanks Larry Burda]

former gas station
Hilltop, KY
This former station in Hilltop used this metal teepee as the station's attendant's booth. It was part of a truck stop which included a restaurant and this gas station. The buildings were constructed in the 1930s. There is nothing left of the station now other than this teepee but the former restaurant remains. The teepee once was decorated with neon and painted triangles. The paper signs on the teepee which advertise for the Finch Oil Company were added recently. The original owner built two of these teepees. All that remains of the other one which is located on Route 36 is the lower half. [map]

Walls Bakery [gone]
Waldorf, MD
Walls Bakery occupied this building from 1969 until 2005. The building originally housed the Wigwam, a restaurant and gambling casino with slot machines. It was built in the late 1940s. The sign is believed to be from the 1950s. At that time, Waldorf was a mini Las Vegas with motels, nightclubs, etc. The teepee part of the Wigwam was once used as a BBQ pit with a ventilation pipe coming out at the top. When Walls Bakery moved in, the store continued to sell Native American souvenirs and other gifts. In 1990, the neon sign was knocked over in a thunderstorm. It was repaired in the late 1990s.

When Walls Bakery relocated in 2005, the building and sign were abandoned. The building was boarded up in 2010 (bottom photo above) and the totem pole was gone. Later in 2010, the building was demolished but the sign remained. In 2013, the sign was donated to Charles County. The sign was moved to White Plains, MD and adapted to direct visitors to the Indian Head Rail Trail. For more, see this website.

Hedge's Wigwam Restaurant [gone]
Royal Oak, MI
Hedge's Wigwam was a cafeteria/gift shop. Their interior was rustic and log cabin-like with booths around the outside wall. I believe this place was built in the 1930s. In the 1960s, it was used as a "head shop" and burned down between 1968 and 1971.