Batchelors Furniture (Closed)
Monaca, PA
Photo courtesy Rick McOmber

This old Pennsylvania furniture store still had its name stretched across the side of the building. The faded Batchelor Furniture sign fits right in with the brick walls of downtown Monaca. Nothing fancy here, just one of those old signs that became part of the building after enough years went by. 10-07

The business traced its roots back to a furniture and undertaking shop started in 1876. Yes, furniture and undertaking. Apparently one store could furnish the house and take care of that final bit of business too. Batchelor later operated stores around Beaver County, including locations at Northern Lights Shopping Center and Beaver Valley Mall.

UPDATE: Batchelor Furniture closed its final store in September 2010. The old Monaca building remains, although the current condition of the side sign has not been confirmed. 08-26

Kennedy Hardware
Wheeling, WV
Photo courtesy Rick McOmber

Here’s a look at the old Kennedy Hardware sign hanging above the entrance in South Wheeling. The big block letters spelling KENNEDY look right at home against the two-story red brick building. No flashy neon or giant roadside arrow needed here. The name above the door tells you exactly where you are. 10-07

Kennedy Hardware opened in 1923 and has now been serving the Wheeling area for more than a century. It started as the kind of neighborhood hardware store where you could probably find the right screw, hinge or odd little part without wandering through ten acres of aisles. Over the years, the family-owned business expanded into lawn tractors, utility vehicles and outdoor power equipment.

Wheeling is well known for its faded Mail Pouch and other old advertising signs, but this one is a little different. Kennedy is not a ghost from a long-gone business. The store is still going behind those old brick walls.

UPDATE: Kennedy Hardware remains open and the old sign still survives above the storefront. 08-26

March Wheeling Stogies (Closed)
Wheeling, WV
Photo courtesy Rick McOmber

Now this is a rooftop sign. The giant Marsh Wheeling Stogies letters rise above the old brick factory and make quite an entrance for drivers coming into Wheeling from Ohio. It is a little weathered and a little rusty, but still a real eye-catcher against the city skyline. 10-07

M. Marsh & Sons started making cigars in Wheeling in 1840, back when this part of West Virginia was still Virginia. The company moved into the five-story Market Street factory in 1908. At its peak in the 1940s, around 600 employees were turning out as many as three million stogies a week. That is a whole lot of smoke.

UPDATE: Cigar production ended at the Wheeling factory in 2001 and later moved to Indiana. The old building remains vacant, but plans have called for its restoration with apartments, offices and retail space. The huge rooftop sign still stands, although it is no longer illuminated. 08-26

Cooey Bentz (Closed)
Wheeling, WV
Photo courtesy Rick McOmber

Check out the old Cooey-Bentz Company blade sign hanging from the corner of this big brick building in South Wheeling. The tall sign spells out the name one letter at a time and must have been quite a sight when it was lit up. By 2007, the metal was already showing plenty of rust, giving it that well-traveled West Virginia look. 10-07

Cooey-Bentz opened in 1897 as an unusual one-stop shop selling furniture and dry goods while also operating a funeral home. The funeral business was sold in the 1930s, and the store later became a favorite local shopping stop. During the 1970s and 1980s, its Toyland, animated windows, model trains and Santa Claus made the place a holiday tradition around Wheeling.

The building also played a much more somber role after the 1924 Benwood Mine disaster. It was temporarily used to receive and identify victims following the explosion, which killed 119 miners.

UPDATE: Cooey-Bentz closed in 2002 after 105 years in business. The large building remains vacant, and the rusty old blade sign still hangs from the corner, although its lights have been dark for many years. 08-26

Esman's Sporting Goods (Closed)
Pitcarin, PA
Photo courtesy Jim Zahniser

Here’s a look at the old Esman’s Sporting Goods sign still hanging from the brick storefront in Pitcairn. The shop was already closed when this photo was taken, but that big sign continued to advertise hunting and fishing supplies to everyone cruising along Broadway Boulevard. 01-08

Esman’s was a longtime stop for hunters around the greater Pittsburgh area, selling firearms, ammunition, reloading supplies and other outdoor gear. The business was known beyond western Pennsylvania too. Its annual Esman’s Firearms and Accessories catalogs brought the little Pitcairn shop to mailboxes around the country during the 1960s, 1970s and beyond.

The exact opening and closing dates are a little hard to pin down, but plenty of local hunters still remember a trip to Esman’s when it was time for a new rifle, scope or box of ammunition.

UPDATE: The old brick building remains standing at 560 Broadway Boulevard. Esman’s is long closed, but the casing of the vintage storefront sign still survives. Whether it can light up anymore is another question. 08-26

CITGO Sign
Boston, MA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

There it is, glowing above Kenmore Square. The giant CITGO sign has been part of the skyline since 1965, with its red triangle and thousands of lights flashing through the night. It is one of those signs that tells you exactly where you are without needing to look at a map. 02-08

The 60-foot-square sign originally used nearly 6,000 neon tubes. It went dark during the energy crisis in 1979 and remained that way for more than four years. When CITGO planned to dismantle the weathered sign in 1983, Bostonians protested and saved it from the scrap heap. The sign was restored instead and later converted to LED lighting.

Baseball fans see it looming beyond Fenway Park during Red Sox games, especially when a ball sails over the Green Monster. Some fans even call it the “See It Go” sign. It also serves as a welcome beacon for Boston Marathon runners entering the final mile.

UPDATE: The CITGO sign was dismantled in June 2026 for an $8 million relocation on the same rooftop. A new weather-resistant replica is being erected 30 feet higher and 120 feet east to keep it visible above Kenmore Square. The badly deteriorated original face could not be reused, although the old blue letter C was saved for display inside Cornwall’s tavern. The sign is expected to light up again in late 2026. 08-26

Rogers Jewelers (Gone)
Boston, MA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

The angular Rogers Jewelers sign once projected over Washington Street near Boston’s downtown shopping district. Its unusual pointed shape and big block letters made it easy to spot among the crowded storefronts, department stores, and other signs competing for attention. 02-08

Washington Street was once Boston’s main retail strip, packed with shoppers and some of the city’s best-known stores. The Rogers sign stood near Lafayette Place, looking south toward the old Hotel Avery and the edge of the neighborhood once known as the Combat Zone. It was a much different streetscape from today’s Downtown Crossing pedestrian mall.

Little information has surfaced about Rogers Jewelers itself, including its exact address or how long the store operated. The business should not be confused with the unrelated Rogers Jewelry in Quincy or another Rogers Jewelers that operated in Pittsfield.

UPDATE: Rogers Jewelers has closed, and the projecting sign has been removed. The surrounding Washington Street blocks have been extensively redeveloped, with no known pieces of the old sign remaining. 08-26

Route 1 Miniature Golf (Gone)
Saugus, MA
Photo by RoadsidePeek.com

Cruising along Route 1 in Saugus, it was hard to miss the big golf ball and flashing arrow for Route 1 Miniature Golf. The roadside course was even better known for the giant orange dinosaur standing guard over the sixth hole. Now that is how you get the attention of passing motorists. 08-08

The 18-hole course opened in 1958 and included plenty of old-fashioned obstacles, including a spinning rocket ship, mechanical windmill, and Humpty Dumpty. Batting cages and the little Dairy Castle ice cream stand rounded out the stop. The orange dinosaur became such a local landmark that the business used theorangedinosaur.com as its website.

Here is an interesting sign twist. The sign seen here was actually a non-neon replica installed in 1997. The original 1960 neon sign had already been saved and moved into a private Massachusetts neon collection.

UPDATE: Route 1 Miniature Golf closed on September 25, 2016, after 58 years. The course, batting cages, and Dairy Castle were demolished for the Essex Landing development. Thankfully, the 20-foot orange dinosaur was saved and still stands on the property. The 1997 golf sign was removed, although the new development sign borrows a few details from its familiar Route 1 predecessor. 08-26