Peoria Plaza
Denver, CO
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Here's a roadside shopping center sign for the Peoria Plaza.

Shopping center signs like this used to be a staple of the American roadside. Before giant lifestyle centers and big-box developments took over, neighborhood plazas relied on tall roadside marquees to let passing motorists know what businesses were waiting inside. Whether you needed a pizza, a laundromat, or a quick errand, the sign out front did the advertising.

Peoria Plaza was established along the Peoria Street corridor in the mid-1960s during a period of rapid growth on Denver's eastern edge. The area developed into a mix of retail and light industrial businesses serving nearby neighborhoods, and the plaza became one of many local shopping centers that helped define the suburban landscape of the era.

While the stores and tenants have changed over the years, the sign captured here is a reminder of a time when a simple roadside marquee was often the most important piece of advertising a business could have.

Southgate (Gone)
Colorado Springs, CO
Photo courtesy Mike Lascuola

Check out this huge sign for Southgate, located on the south side of Colorado Springs. Dating to around 1949, this was the kind of neon landmark that was impossible to miss.

Back in the days before enclosed malls and big-box retailers dominated the landscape, shopping centers often relied on giant roadside signs to announce their presence. Southgate was one of the earliest major retail developments in Colorado Springs and became a familiar destination for generations of local shoppers. The towering neon marquee welcomed motorists heading into the city and helped establish the area as an important commercial district.

I have always liked these old shopping center signs because they were designed to be landmarks as much as advertisements. Long before GPS and smartphones, travelers knew they had arrived when they spotted a sign like this glowing above the traffic.

UPDATE: The original Southgate Shopping Center has evolved into the modern Broadmoor Towne Center retail district.