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Tennessee Signs (page 2)

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Mountaineer Restaurant [gone]
Church Hill, TN
The Mountaineer Restaurant featured Southern specialties and giant banana splits. It closed in 2008 and the sign was removed. The restaurant has been replaced with a Walgreens. The sign is now in a private collection.

D&D Radiator Service
Clarksville, TN
Vacation Motor Hotel
Clarksville, TN
The D&D Radiator Service is long gone but this sign remains. It is probably from the 1960s. [map]

The Vacation Motor Hotel opened in 1954 and originally had an on-site restaurant. As of 2010, the hotel was closed and for sale. This sign appears to have been inspired by the Holiday Inn Great Sign. A lot of motels copied the design and there were never any lawsuits that I'm aware of. The post and star of this sign are very similar but the arrow projects from the bottom instead of the top. For more, see this website. [map]

More Clarksville:
Acme Boot [gone]
D&D Radiator Service
The Mart

Rebel Drive-in
Cleveland, TN
Earl's Restaurant
Cleveland, TN
One Hour Cleaners
Cleveland, TN
The Rebel Drive-in opened in 1964 and had a car hop canopy. It became a chain with eight locations in the Chattanooga, TN area. This is the only location left. At some point, the drive-in moved and brought the sign with them. It closed in 2000 but reopened in 2004. The sign originally had neon and a readerboard at the bottom. [map]

Earl's Restaurant is long gone but this sign remains. It was probably built in the 1950s. [map]

This One Hour Cleaners was originally known as the One Hour Martinizing Dry Cleaners. The rooftop sign has changed but the two window signs are the same. The One Hour Martinizing chain was established in 1949 in Buffalo, NY. I believe this building design and sign are from the early 1960s. For more examples of these buildings, see the one below in Cookeville and these in Virginia. For more, see this website. [map]

Daugherty
Furniture
Clinton, TN
Ingles
Clinton, TN
Ingles
Madisonville, TN
Ridgeview
Motel [gone]
Clinton, TN
The Daugherty Furniture was established in Fork Mountain, TN and moved to Clinton in the lae 1930s. It closed in 1985. In 2025, the building was adapted as the Daugherty Lofts and the sign was refurbished then. The sign is probably from the 1940s or 1950s and probably had neon originally. [map]

This Ingles supermarket in Clinton was built in 1984 and this sign must be from then. The chain was established in 1963 and there are about 200 locations in the Southeastern U.S. [map]

This Ingles supermarket in Madisonville was built in 1982 and this sign must be from then. [map]

The Ridgeview Motel also appeared to be from the 1950s. The sign and the little building below it were gone by 2026.

Bucky's
Family Restaurant
Columbia, TN
Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home
Columbia, TN
Crown Liquors [gone]
Columbia, TN
Bucky's Family Restaurant may have opened in 1950 this this sign appears to be from then. It features a Broaster Chicken on its sign. [map]

Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home was established in 1856. This sign might be from the 1940s or 1950s. [map]

Crown Liquors had a faded wooden add-on Jack Daniels bottle. This photo is from 2007. By 2013, the sign had been replaced with a new plastic box sign.

Studebaker
Columbia, TN
This Studebaker sign was installed in 2019. It came from the Columbia Motor Alley just up the street. [map]

James K. Polk Motel
Columbia, TN
2007: 2026:
The James K. Polk Motel had two signs which were installed in 1963. They were built by the Columbia Neon Co. The motel was named after President Polk. The James K. Polk Ancestral Home is located in Columbia, TN. By 2012, the signs had been repainted. The motel closed in 2014 and was later demolished. In 2018, the top "Polk" panel was removed and restored. It is now on display inside the Columbia Welcome Center. The rest of that sign remains on the vacant lot. The smaller sign was removed in 2018. It was restored and is now displayed in the lobby of The Graduate by Hilton hotel in Nashville, TN. [map]

More Columbia:
Jumbo House Hamburgers
R.C. May Jewelers [gone]

Williams Wholesale
& Supply
Cookeville, TN
Maddux Hardware
Cookeville, TN
Masonic Lodge
Cookeville, TN
Spring St.
Super Market
Cookeville, TN
Bonanza Homes
Cookeville, TN
Hour-O-Matic
Cleaners [gone]
Cookeville, TN
Williams Wholesale & Supply, an electrical supply and lighting center, was established in 1939. This sign was installed sometime after 1977. The store moved in 2025 and the building is now vacant. The sign remains. [map]

Maddox Furniture opened in 1940 and closed in 2005. By 2011, the wording on the bottom of the sign had been changed from "Hardware Furniture" to "Building 1928". [map]

This Masonic Lodge features milk glass, painted globes. These were installed at many other lodges around the country but are becoming relatively rare now. [map]

The Spring St. Super Market was built in 1960 and this sign appears to be from then. The store closed in 2021 and is surrounded by chain link fencing but the sign remains. It appears that the property is used by the Pepsi plant next door. For more, see this website. [map]

This sign advertised for Bonanza Homes, a local chain of mobile home dealers. This sign was built around 1969 and originally revolved. Bonanza Homes went out of business around 1980. The chain was initially part of an Atlanta-based nationwide franchise operation which used these signs at other locations with various names. This photo is from 2008. In 2022, the sign was still there. There was another one of these signs in Knoxville, TN and Brunswick, GA. [map]

There was another Bonanza Homes sign, now gone, in Bowling Green, KY at an Upside Down Charlie location. Other examples of these signs are/were in Sulphur Springs, TX, San Bernardino, CA, Decatur, GA [gone], Muscle Shoals, AL, and Salida, CA. These signs in Dallas, TX might have had Bonanza Homes panels originally or possibly been inspired by these signs. If you know of any others, I'd love to hear about them.

The Hour-O-Matic Cleaners was probably a "One Hour Cleaning" originally. This photo is from 2008. By 2013, the store was still there but this sign was gone. There are a couple of other signs standing with this design in Indiana.

former One Hour Martinizing
Cookeville, TN
2008: 2026:
This One Hour Martinizing store was probably built in the 1960s. It had closed by 2022 and the sign and building were adapted for the Exceptional Bean coffee shop. There was probably a "wing" on the right side of the building originally. For other examples of Martinizing buildings, see this page. [map]

More Cookeville:
Cream City Ice Cream
Southern Motel [gone]

Tinsley-Bible Drugs
Dandridge, TN
Tinsley-Bible Drugs was established in 1911 and is still operating. It was founded by P.A. Tinsley and his nephew. In 1933, they began partnering with Lloyd "Doc" Bible. This sign could be from then or it might be from the 1940s or 1950s. [map]

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