Peoples Bank
Rocky Mount, NC
Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

We rolled into Rocky Mount just in time to catch a southbound CSX train (minus most of it's nose lettering) passing through the middle of town and the Peoples Bank. This serves to give you an idea of just how large the ghost sign of this bank really is. Many thanks to Richard Weiss for info. 5-08

Built in 1918, the former Rocky Mount National Bank building became home to Peoples Bank and Trust in 1934. The name remained prominent for decades before Peoples merged with Planters National Bank in 1990 to form Centura. The painted advertisement stayed behind after the banking names changed.

UPDATE: The building has been renovated for commercial use, while its huge ghost sign survives above the railroad corridor. The lettering remains one of downtown Rocky Mount's most recognizable reminders of its banking history. 11-26

Motor Sales Hudson & Essex
Wilson, NC
Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

Wilson, NC is home to this "ghost" for a dealership of Hudson & Essex cars. This clearly dates from at least the 1930's as Essex was one of the many car makers that did not survive the great depression. Many thanks to Richard Weiss for info. 05-08

Historic district documentation dates the advertisement between 1921 and about 1936. Essex was Hudson's lower-priced companion brand, giving dealers another vehicle to offer customers during the expanding automobile market. The surviving names preserve a dealership identity long after the cars themselves became collectors' items.

UPDATE: The Motor Sales dealership is gone. The present condition of its painted advertisement has not been confirmed, but the recorded sign preserves a distinctive piece of Wilson's early automotive trade. 11-26

Coca Cola Sign
Roanoke Rapids, NC
Photo courtesy Tait Hilliard

Check out the remains of this old store in Roanoke Rapids. Still hanging on to the side is this faded Coca Cola Sign, though both the building and sign look like they've seen better days. 08-08

Not sure what this little store once was or how long it had been sitting here, but the old Coca Cola lettering still manages to catch the eye. Looks like the building had already been forgotten by the time this shot was taken, with the once bright advertisement slowly fading away along with the store itself.

UPDATE: Not sure if the old store or Coca Cola sign is still around. 08-26

Coca Cola Sign
Renton, NC
Photo courtesy Tait Hilliard

Out along Highway 158, keep an eye on the barns sitting off the road. This old one near Renton featured a big Coca Cola Sign painted across the side, still advertising to passing motorists long after its brighter days had passed. 08-08

The faded Coca Cola lettering looks right at home on the weathered barn. No fancy storefront or neon here, just an old painted sign out in the countryside waiting to be spotted from the highway. It's one of those roadside sights that's easy to miss if you're traveling a little too fast.

UPDATE: The exact location of this barn is uncertain, and not sure if the old Coca Cola sign is still around. 08-26

Coca Cola Sign
Erwin, NC
Photo courtesy Tait Hilliard

Here's one of those old painted signs that almost blends right into the building. The faded Coca Cola Sign can still be made out on the side of what appears to be an old neighborhood grocery store in Erwin, NC. The place was already looking pretty abandoned when this shot was taken, but that weathered Coca Cola lettering still manages to catch your eye. 08-08

Not much seems to be known about the store itself, including what it was called or exactly when it closed. Erwin was long a textile mill town, and little grocery stores like this once served the neighborhoods surrounding the mills.

UPDATE: The current status of the building and its Coca Cola ghost sign is unknown. 08-26

A.V. Sapp
Greensboro, NC
Photo courtesy Richard Weiss

You can still make out the old A.V. Sapp lettering high on the brick wall in downtown Greensboro, along with the catchy promise that A.V. Sapp "sells it cheaper." It's the kind of ghost sign that's easy to miss unless you happen to look up while passing along South Elm Street. 02-09

A.V. Sapp was once a familiar name around Greensboro. Artura Victor Sapp operated what was known as a racket store at 318 South Elm Street, an early variety and dry goods store selling everything from clothing and shoes to millinery. Newspaper ads were already promoting "A.V. Sapp Sells it Cheaper" at this address by 1912.

The store disappeared long ago, but its advertising didn't quite go with it. More than a century later, those faded letters are still hanging around above South Elm Street.

UPDATE: The old storefront has since been repurposed for other businesses, while the A.V. Sapp ghost sign still survives on the brick wall. 08-26