Pawnee Lanes (Closed)
Maple Heights, OH Photo courtesy Steve Felder
The oversized bowling pin at Pawnee Lanes made this Maple Heights alley easy to spot from Broadway Avenue. Opened in 1947, the ten-lane center offered a neighborhood setting for leagues and friendly competition. 04-01
Wooden lanes and above-ground ball returns preserved its old-school atmosphere. The owners purchased the business in 1991 and kept it going for more than thirty years before announcing their retirement.
UPDATE: Pawnee permanently closed in June 2026, ending nearly eighty years of bowling. The vintage sign’s current status remains unconfirmed. 06-26
wing the owners' retirement. The current status of the vintage sign has not been verified. 06-26
Fountain Square Bowling Window
Indianapolis, IN Photo courtesy Emily Steele
See the atomic duckpin bowling and the era from which it hails from.
You don't have to step inside to know this place celebrates the Atomic Age. The colorful window graphics at Atomic Duckpin Bowling are filled with the starbursts, boomerangs, and bold typography that made 1950s design so much fun. They're the perfect introduction to what's waiting inside. 04-01
Located in the historic Fountain Square Theatre Building, Atomic Duckpin Bowling offers a different take on the sport. The basement-level alley features seven vintage duckpin lanes, where smaller balls and shorter pins create a game that's every bit as entertaining as traditional ten-pin bowling.
The Atomic theme carries throughout the interior with vintage décor, classic Coca-Cola memorabilia, and period-style diner booths. It's a great example of how thoughtful design can transport visitors back to the heyday of roadside Americana without feeling like a museum.
Fountain Square Restaurant
Indianapolis, IN Photo courtesy Emily Steele
This Restaurant is the part of the building that also houses the bowling
alley at Fountain Square, Indianapolis. A rather large complex.
UPDATE: Atomic Duckpin Bowling remains open inside the Fountain Square Theatre Building, and its retro Atomic Age window graphics continue to welcome visitors. 06-26
Planet Bowl
Oklahoma City, OK Photo courtesy Tony Craig
The rocket and orbiting planets on the Planet Bowl marquee gave bowling a Space Age introduction. Opened in 1960, this Oklahoma City-area center had a sign worth noticing before anyone reached the lanes. A giant bowling ball surrounded by planets makes quite a sales pitch for an evening of strikes and spares. 04-01
The 24-lane center has served generations of bowlers in Midwest City. Its opening coincided with the era when rockets, satellites and futuristic shapes appeared on everything from motel signs to coffee shops. Planet Bowl carried that fascination right into its name and roadside advertising.
The marquee has weathered the years, and its neon reportedly went dark long ago. Fortunately, the rocket, planets and distinctive framework survived. Even without illumination, there’s enough imagination here to warrant pulling over for another photograph.
UPDATE: Planet Bowl remains open in Midwest City. Its original Space Age marquee still stands, though the neon has reportedly been inactive for years. The rocket may be grounded, but it continues pointing travelers toward a game of bowling. 06-26
Crete Lanes (Gone)
Crete, IL Photo courtesy Don Gardner
The Crete Lanes marquee used animated neon to send a bowling ball toward the pins. Restored around 2009, it was the kind of sign worth stopping to watch for another sequence. 04-01
The alley closed in 2016, but its building became Evil Horse Brewing Company. Sections of the wooden lanes found new uses as bar tops and tables, while the owners saved the marquee.
UPDATE: The restored sign hangs inside the brewery. You can’t bowl here anymore, but plenty of the old alley remains part of an evening out. 06-26
Rainbo Lanes (Gone)
Elkhart, IN Photo courtesy Steve Felder
The Rainbo Lanes marquee offered more than unusual spelling. Animated neon circles chased downward, suggesting a bowling ball rolling toward a pin. Quite a roadside introduction to this Elkhart alley. 04-01
Opened in 1963, Rainbo closed in 2011 and briefly returned in 2013. By 2014, the building had become The Arena entertainment venue. During conversion, the marquee lost its neon and received black paint.
UPDATE: Bowling has ended, but the building and sign framework survive in altered form. The colorful animated display is gone. 06-26
Fireside Bowl
Chicago, IL Photo courtesy Don Gardner
The giant bowling pin rising above Fireside Bowl is one of Chicago's great roadside landmarks. It's the kind of sign you spot from a distance, and once you see it, there's no mistaking what's inside. The red-and-white tiled building makes an equally strong impression, giving this neighborhood bowling alley a look that's hard to forget. 04-01
Fireside Bowl has quite a history. The building began life as an ice storage facility before being converted into a bowling alley in 1941. It expanded to 16 lanes in the 1950s and has remained in the hands of the Lapinski family since 1964, making it one of Chicago's longest-running family-owned bowling centers.
The bowling alley found an unexpected second life during the 1990s, when it became one of Chicago's best-known punk rock venues. Bands from around the country packed the building before the family restored it to its bowling roots in 2004, preserving both the lanes and its unmistakable vintage character.
UPDATE: Fireside Bowl remains open in Chicago, and its iconic giant bowling pin marquee continues to light up Fullerton Avenue. 06-26
Pawnee Lanes (Closed)
Fountain Square Bowling Window
Fountain Square Restaurant
Planet Bowl
Crete Lanes (Gone)
Rainbo Lanes (Gone)
Fireside Bowl
