email: roadarch@outlook.com

Kentucky Signs (page 1)

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Ashland:
Don's Men's Shop [map]

Belew's Dairy Bar
Aurora, KY
Old Kentucky
Home Motel [gone]
Bardstown, KY
Belew's Dairy Bar opened in 1951. This drive-in restaurant features car hop service. [map]

The Old Kentucky Home Motel was built in 1955. This sign appeared to be from then. This photo is from 2010. By 2012, the sign had been repainted and basically ruined. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Little Town & Country Restaurant
Bedford, KY
The Little Town & Country Restaurant opened in 1956 and this pole sign appears to be from then. There is a broaster chicken logo panel on top. For more, see this website. [map]

Hutchens Drive-in
Benton, KY
Big Jack Liquor & Beer
Boston, KY
Hutchens Drive-in, aka Hutchens BBQ, opened in 1947. [map]

Big Jack Liquor & Beer sign features a moonshine jug and wooden plank. The business was later known as Boston Beverage. The store has been closed since at least 2021. [map]

Berea:
Boone Tavern Hotel & Restaurant [map]
L. Marion Oliver Insurance (now Oliver & Oliver Insurance) [gone]
Masonic Lodge [map]

Crossland Motel [gone]
Bowling Green, KY
Spot Cash Store [gone]
Bowling Green, KY
The Crossland Motel had been around since at least the 1950s. This photo is from 2007. By 2010, the motel had been demolished and the sign was gone. For more, see this website.

The Spot Cash Store was a men's clothing store which opened in 1929. This sign was built in 1952. This photo is from 2010. In 2011, Labold and Sons Salvage moved into the building. The business kept the sign and restored the neon in 2012. In 2015, the business closed and the sign was removed.

Horse Shoe Camp Cottages [gone]
Bowling Green, KY
Bone's Auto Electric & Air
Bowling Green, KY
The Horse Shoe Camp Cottages were also known as the Horse Shoe Court. They were built in 1935 and had been abandoned since the 1970s. In 2014, there was a devastating fire. In 2018, the charred buildings and the rooftop sign were still there. By 2022, they were gone.

The Bone's Auto Electric & Air sign appears to be from the 1940s or so. [map]

More Bowling Green:
Crescent Bowl [gone]
Judy's Castle (former Dog House) [gone]
Walt's Allstate Transmission Service
Western Hills Motel [vintage; gone]

Burnside:
7 Gables Motel [map]

Holiday Motel
Cave City, KY
Jerry's Restaurant [gone]
Cave City, KY
Star Motel
Cave City, KY
2001: 2007: 2001: 2007: 2007: 2010:
The Holiday Motel sign was repainted and some of the neon was removed between 2001 and 2007. For more, see this website. [map]

Jerry's Restaurant was part of a Kentucky chain. By 2010, this sign had been replaced with a plastic box sign. The restaurant was closed as well. By 2013, the only thing left was a vacant lot. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2.

The Star Motel sign still had a ring of neon stars around it in 2007. By 2010, the sign had been stripped down to the frame with stars painted on the side. By 2018, white panels were finally installed in the frame. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

Caveland Motel
Cave City, KY
Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company
Corbin, KY
The Caveland Motel was named after the nearby Mammoth Cave National Park. There was another sign here originally. This sign was installed by the mid-1950s. For more, see these websites: 1, 2, and 3. [map]

This Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company building looks to be from the 1950s or 1960s. I have not seen a Pepsi cap sign like this before. [map]

More Corbin:
Eubanks Lighting Center
WCCT [map]

Jackson Florist
Covington, KY
Sam's Candy & Ice Cream
Covington, KY
Jackson Florist was established in the late 1890s. This sign appears to be from the 1960s. [map]

Sam's Candy & Ice Cream had been here since at least 1912. The store is long gone but this sign remains. The sign is probably from the 1950s. [map]

More Covington:
514 Building [gone]
Burger Beer [gone]
Cork N' Bottle Liquor [gone]
former Covington Chili
Rich's Jewelers
Sim's Appliances & Furniture

Cynthiana:
Roh's Opera House

Dawson Springs:
Woodburn Drugs [gone]

Elizabethtown:
Dix-E-Town Lanes

Masonic Lodge
Frankfort, KY
Moore's Point Liquors
Frankfort, KY
Moose Lodge
Henderson, KY
former Bernstein's
Men's Wear [gone]
Henderson, KY
This Masonic Lodge sign was in bad shape around 2004. It had been completely refurbished by 2010 when this photo was taken. I've never seen a Masonic sign shaped like this before. For more, see this website. [map]

The Moore's Point Liquors sign is probably from the 1940s or earlier. There are a number of these whiskey signs in Kentucky in both blue and red porcelain enamel. This is the only one I have seen with an arrow. [map]

This Moose Lodge sign was in great shape when this photo was taken in 2010. By 2014, the neon had been removed. [map]

Bernstein's Men's Wear is gone but this sign remains. This photo is from 2010. By 2012, the neon had been removed and the sign painted over for Bernie's Boutique. By 2019, new panels were placed over the sign, painted with an ear of corn. [map]

Elkton:
Hotel Jefferson Davis [map]

Flemingsburg:
Oldsmobile [map]

More Frankfort:
liquor store [gone]
M.A. Selbert Jewelers

Hodgenville:
Smith Drugs

Manhattan
Motel [gone]
Hopkinsville, KY
Ferrell's Hamburgers
Hopkinsville, KY
Kentucky Ice Cream [gone]
Horse Cave, KY
The Manhattan Motel sign's design was very similar to the former Faubus Motel in Huntsville, AR. The Manhattan Motel sign was gone by 2018.

Ferrell's Hamburgers opened in Owensboro, KY in 1929. This location opened in 1936. By the 1940s, a location in Madisonville opened. There were other locations in Bowling Green, Henderson, and Clarksville. A new location in Cadiz opened in 1976. This sign is probably from the 1940s. In 2023, a corner of the sign was clipped by a truck. The neon will either be restored or the restaurant will replace the sign with a new one. For more, see these websites: 1 and 2. [map]

This Kentucky Ice Cream sign continued to hang although there was no ice cream shop below it. I don't know if Kentucky Ice Cream was a brand or a chain of stores. By 2018, there was a new sign for the Midway Cafe in its place. The ice cream cone has also been replaced with another one.

More Hopkinsville:
Kleen Rite Cleaners
Little River Motel [gone]

Ivel:
Alpike Motel [map]

Jamestown:
Jamestown Court [gone]
Lake Cumberland Motel [map]

Kentucky
(page 2)
Louisville Main Signs Page