The Cherokee Trader
Cherokee, NC
Photo courtesy Kevin Powers

The Cherokee Trader is one of many trading posts around Cherokee selling "genuine" Indian artifacts and gifts. On such post has a live rooster that will come out and eat food dispensed from an automatic feeder for a small price. Many thanks to Kevin Powers for info

Cruising along the main drag through Cherokee, here's one sign that's hard to pass without taking another look. The Cherokee Trader is marked by a colorful old roadside sign featuring a cartoon Indian chief in a feathered headdress, looking much like something you'd expect to find along a mountain highway 50 years ago.

The sign dates back to 1964 and stands outside the longtime gift shop along U.S. 441. The Cherokee Trader was started by Lois Queen Farthing, whose family became closely tied to the growth of Cherokee's roadside tourism business.

Inside you'll find the usual assortment of souvenirs and gifts, but outside is where the roadside fun begins. The big freestanding sign has weathered quite a few Smoky Mountain seasons, and the faded paint only seems to add to its old roadside look.

UPDATE: The Cherokee Trader remains open along Tsali Boulevard, and its colorful 1964 roadside sign still stands out front. 08-26

Doerr Furniture
New Orleans, LA
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

Cruising along Elysian Fields Avenue, this old blade sign is hard to miss. The Doerr Furniture marquee reaches out from the building with big vertical letters pointing the way to this longtime New Orleans furniture store. It's a great old Deco-style sign that looks right at home along the street.

Doerr Furniture got its start in 1938 when Charles L. Doerr, Sr. began selling handmade rocking chairs from a small backyard operation. The business grew from there and eventually moved into its longtime Elysian Fields location, a building that had once housed a Ford dealership.

The old projecting sign has become as much a part of the place as the furniture inside. With its tall lettering, porcelain panels and streamlined shape, it's the kind of commercial sign that was once a common sight hanging over busy city streets.

Doerr has remained a family business through four generations, and the vintage sign has received some attention along the way as well. Rather than replacing it with something newer, the old marquee was restored and kept right where it belongs.

UPDATE: Doerr Furniture remains open on Elysian Fields Avenue, and its restored vintage blade sign still points the way. 08-26

Granite Lake (Rem.)
Granite Quarry, NC
Photo courtesy Tony Craig

Here's an old roadside sign that once pointed the way to a favorite summertime swimming hole. Granite Lake in Granite Quarry offered swimming, a sandy beach, picnic areas, a water slide and even a high dive. Not a bad place to cool off on a hot North Carolina afternoon.

The lake operated as a private swimming attraction for decades. A fire destroyed the bathhouse in 1969, closing the place for several seasons, but Granite Lake returned in 1973 and continued welcoming swimmers through the summer of 1999.

The swimming days are over now, and the old Granite Lake roadside sign photographed here is gone too. The property didn't disappear, though. The town eventually turned the old swimming hole into Granite Lake Park, which opened in 2007.

UPDATE: Granite Lake Park remains open with walking trails, picnic areas, fishing and a fountain where the old swimming attraction once operated. The original roadside sign has been removed. 08-26

T.M. Hazle GE Appliances (Gone)
Hodgenville, KY
Photo courtesy Devil Doll

Here's an old appliance sign still hanging around downtown Hodgenville. The T.M. Hazle General Electric Appliancessign features the familiar old GE emblem surrounded by what looks like red neon tubing. Whether that neon still worked when this shot was taken is another question, but the sign itself is worth a second look.

T.M. Hazle operated a longtime appliance business here, selling General Electric products to folks around Hodgenville and LaRue County. Like many small-town appliance dealers, the store used one of those great manufacturer signs with the nationally known GE logo on top and the local dealer's name underneath.

That's what makes signs like this fun to find. Before every appliance store became part of a big chain, downtowns were filled with independent dealers selling GE, Frigidaire, Zenith and whatever else you needed for the house.

The appliance store is gone now, and so is the old GE sign.

UPDATE: The former T.M. Hazle appliance store building still stands along North Lincoln Boulevard, but the old General Electric sign has been removed. 08-26