Boy Scout Building
Mooresville, NC
Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

You see here too and old auto dealership, now used for a Boy Scout troop. Again I saw no indication as to what kind of cars were sold here, but aside from it looking like an old dealership, the building details of a spoked wheel certainly give it away. Maybe Franklin cars were sold there? Many thanks to Richard Weiss for info. 05-08

The old Boy Scout Building in downtown Mooresville has had quite a history over the years. Long before Scouts met inside, it was home to the Birdsall-Smith Automobile Company, where new Franklin automobiles were sold during the early days of motoring. Today, the building's biggest attraction isn't inside at all. It's the huge painted Franklin Auto advertisement that still stretches across the side wall.

Boy Scout Building
Mooresville, NC
Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

The restored ghost sign is one of downtown Mooresville's most recognizable landmarks. Rather than letting the faded lettering disappear, the building's owners carefully brought it back to life, preserving a reminder of the days when hand-painted advertisements guided motorists instead of neon signs and billboards.

UPDATE: The building now serves as a meeting place for a local Boy Scout troop, giving the old dealership a new purpose while preserving one of North Carolina's finest automotive ghost signs. It's a nice example of how a historic building can move into a new chapter without forgetting where it came from. 08-26

Buster Miles Chevrolet - Oldsmobile (Gone)
Heflin, AL
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

The classic Chevrolet sign in Heflin was one of those roadside landmarks that seemed to belong to another era. Rising high above the dealership, it could be spotted long before you reached the lot, letting motorists know they had arrived at Buster Miles Chevrolet. It was the kind of straightforward, eye-catching sign that became a familiar sight in small towns all across America. 04-09

Oldsmobile
Heflin, AL
Photo courtesy Paul Bauke

Buster Miles Chevrolet opened on Heflin's Main Street in 1952, founded by World War II veteran Charles "Buster" Miles. The dealership quickly became one of Cleburne County's best-known businesses, serving generations of local families looking for everything from their first car to a dependable pickup. As the years went by and traffic shifted toward Interstate 20, the dealership outgrew its downtown location and moved to a larger facility better suited for modern automobile sales. More than 70 years later, the business remains in the hands of the Miles family.

Standing alongside the Chevrolet sign was an equally impressive Oldsmobile vertical sign, a reminder of the years when Buster Miles also represented one of General Motors' most respected brands. Together, the two signs made quite an impression on the skyline and reflected an era when dealerships proudly advertised each make with its own distinctive roadside identity.

UPDATE: The original downtown dealership and its towering Chevrolet and Oldsmobile signs have disappeared, replaced by modern corporate branding at the current location. Thankfully, photographs like these preserve a look back at the days when family-owned dealerships relied on bold, memorable signs to welcome travelers into town. 08-26